Vættr
by Lothahnos
Summary: A wandering monk is pulled into an unknown land of unknown morals and faith. Read as he gets used to life as the familiar of a girl who might possibly be the person in most need for some guidance. It's a good thing he gained so much wisdom and patience during his travels. Divines know that he'll need it.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Yes, I play Skyrim, and yes, I have read/watched all of Familiar of Zero. I adore both, so I guess it makes sense that I'd make a crossover. The dragonborn of his story is pretty much a slightly modified port of my current Skyrim character, who is a monk focusing on heavy armor, smithing, and speech. Without further ado, here's my first real fanfic. **

Tseten was, for the first time in many moons, free to his own devices. He had slain the world eater, Alduin. He had prevented the world from being plunged into darkness by cleansing the world of the threat known Harkon. He had freed the people of Solstheim from the clutches of his predecessor, Miraak. Along the way of his awesome sojourn, he helped people. He fed the poor; he tended to the ill and wounded; he incapacitated and turned in countless bandits. Now? Now, he was _tired._

Currently, he was en route to his old hometown of Riften, which he hadn't visited since his pilgrimage from the Temple. The weather was fair, not a single cloud in the cast blue sky. Then he heard roaring of in the distance, followed by screaming. A dragon. A hostile dragon. He had to go help its victims; he shouldn't, no, he _couldn't_ fail to save another soul.

The beast was attacking some traveling farmers, no doubt robbed of home and livelihood by other monsters of its ilk. The dragon pulled its head in an upward motion, ready to spew forth a slew of flames. Tseten ran in front of the farmers and held his heavily armored hands in front of him. His necklace seemed to glow a light blue as he prepared for the oncoming flames. A wall of light appeared before him, protecting him and the two farmers behind him, just in time to block the fiery breath of the Dovah.

"Run!" he gritted out, as he strained to hold up against the force of the Thu'um. The farmers hastily nodded their thanks as they ran in the opposite direction. The dragon noticed this and tried to take to the skies to chase after what it deemed to be easier prey.

"Oh no you don't! **JOOR ZAH FRUL!**" the monk shouted, causing the dragon to be imprisoned by a band of deep blue lights. "Your opponent is me, Dovah."

Tseren put both fists up, ready to use his only way of combat, his fists, to beat the beast down. The dragon snapped at him, but a year of fighting taught him to read his opponent's movements accurately enough to dodge. His bronze gloves took on a red glow as he unleashed a flurry of punches onto the dragon's snout. The beast roared in pain and once again reared for another Thu'um.

Once again, the monk held his hands up to make another wall of light to stymy the dragon's breath. It was a feint, the best immediately snapped forward, closing its maw around one of his hands. The monk hastily cast an _ebony flesh_ spell on himself to help reduce some of the damage. With his free hand, he punched the dragon's snout upwards with greatly increased strength, enough to open it's vice on his left hand. He quickly pulled his arm free and darted around the dragon, punching it along the way.

With great exertion, he pulled himself onto the Dovah's back and scaled its squirming neck, getting a firm grip on the base of its head with his knees. With a loud roar of his own, he brought his gauntleted hands above his head, readying himself for that final blow that would quickly and hopefully painlessly kill the dragon. Just as he was about to strike, both he, and the dragon, were enveloped in a purple portal, not unlike those used by conjurors.

* * *

Today was the day, the day for Louise de la Valliere to validate her existence as a mage, the day for her to finally get rid of that thrice-damned moniker "Louise the Zero." Things were supposed to be perfect. There was no explosion, no people laughing at her. Things were _supposed_ to be perfect. So, what in Brimir's name is this violet portal?

A roar echoed out, worrying Louise even more, yet also filling her with anticipation. A roar that loud, that powerful was bound to be something massive, and powerful. It had to be. It needed to be. A head came out, horned and reptilian, teeth bared. Some sort of orange tarp hid a lot of the finer details –the eyes, the upper half of the snout –. Then came the body, a massive scaled body, with two legs and two massive bat-like wings. Finally, the tail came, flailing its vicious spines around.

A dragon! She actually summoned a dragon, one even bigger and more terrifying than the little one that Tabitha got. Now, Zerbst will have to eat every single insult she had ever spewed out about "the Zero." She can come back to her estate with her head held high.

The dragon then let out another roar, a slightly weaker one, and collapsed. ≈ This wasn't right! Not right at all! She finally did it! She had a familiar, a _dragon_ at that. She was powerful; she was respectable. How could she have screwed up enough to kill her familiar? There wasn't even an explosion this time.

Silence.

Silence rang out through that courtyard as the once-mighty dragon was reduced to a rotting carcass. Then it began, the one sound Louise had been dreading all day. The laughter, so mocking and degrading, rang throughout the courtyard.

"Of course the Zero would be able to kill her own familiar. I knew the dragon was a fluke!"

"Maybe her explosions were inside of the dragon? That seems like something she would do."

Comments like this continued on and on until a bright light flashed. The dragon's skin started flaking away into orange wisps that flowed into that orange tarp on the head. A groan rang through everyone's ears. The tarp started shifting, pulling itself up and off of the pile of bones.

The tarp was a human, a man of a possibly slender build, as it was hard to tell through the tarp, which was actually an orange set of robes. It was a man, his thick black beard made that evident. Any sign of a hairline was either non-existent or completely hidden by the yellow hood that cloaked the head. He then went through the corpse and started pulling bits and pieces off. All of this was done in silence, which was promptly broken by a loud shout.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE FOUNDER IS GOING ON!" shouted a certain pink-haired girl.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm really glad about the positive (I think) feedback I've gotten so far on this story. This chapter I guess can still be considered a prologue, since it occurs before anything really happens in the story, but what ever. Now, I'm gonna point this out before anyone calls me out on it, but this story was heavily influenced by a couple of other Skyrim/ZnT crossovers out there, namely Dovahsenil, by Leo Septim, which is a really good read that I recommend checking out, if you haven't yet. Without further ado, I present Chapter 1, of ****Vættr.**

* * *

Tseten was confused. First, he saved a pair of farmers from a dragon. Then, a conjuror of some sort pulled both him and his foe through a massive portal. The swirl of purple and countless other colors disoriented him, leaving him dazed and unfocused. Suddenly, it all disappeared. He forcefully pulled forward, causing him to fall over the dragon's head. He lay there, unable to think coherently, when he was jerked out of his daze by a roar. The dragon! He had to stop it. What if there were other innocents in this new place, wherever he was? He couldn't allow it! He brought his ebony-empowered fist down, caving in the beast's skull.

There was a familiar rush of energy as the soul of the dragon washed into him, his eyes blinded by the wondrous orange glow. He would assess his situation later; he was far too tired. With the last of his strength, he pulled himself off of the skull and onto his feet. He had to harvest the remains of the dragon, for there was no senses in disrespecting an honorable foe's corpse by letting it go to waste. Hopefully, the bones and scales that were collected would be enough to craft a pair of gauntlets, as his current Dwarven gauntlets were all but destroyed from being bitten earlier.

With all of that out of the way, he surveyed his surroundings. There was a multitude of people – children, really – with the strangest hair colors: greens, reds, blues, and even a pink. This was too much to handle. Where was he? Never in his travels had he seen such odd hair. He was probably hallucinating. He sat down, if anything to gather his wits.

Just as he slumped down, a loud feminine scream, full of anger and confusion echoed throughout the courtyard. The language vaguely resembled the tongue of the Bretons of High Rock, but how could one spell have transferred him across the provinces? This was probably the work of the Daedric Princes – he was set on laying blame with Sheogorath, only one as mad as he would do something so unexplainable.

Tseten pushed himself back on his feet and set his gaze upon the source of the scream. It was a little girl, the one with pink hair. She seemed to be arguing with a taller bald man – a superior, perhaps? The man shook his head, his eyes softening slightly. The girl sighed and shuffled her way back over to Tseten. She gazed up at him. He smiled back, causing her to blush and look down for some reason. She mumbled some words at him before pulling him down to her level and pushing her lips onto his.

Tseten's confusion easily increased tenfold at that point.

Louise stared at the man as he pushed himself back onto his feet. Who was this commoner, with the nerves to kill _her_ summoned familiar?

"Professor Colbert, can I get a redo on the spell? My summon died," she gritted out.

"Normally, I would allow you to do so, but as you can see, there is a living, breathing being that also came out of your portal. You should not desecrate such a sacred ritual due to your own personal feelings."

She let out a sigh of frustration and forced herself to approach the commoner, who was now on his feet. When she scowled up at him, all he did was smile down at her, like she was a little kid or something. Who did he think he was? Well, he should be grateful for receiving something no other commoner would ever retrieve. She steeled her will and gazed back up into his face.

"You should be grateful for what I'm about to do to you, commoner. *ahem* My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Valliére. Pentagon of the five elemental powers, bless this humble being, and make him my familiar."

She leaned up and planted her lips onto his, causing his tired eyes to widen ever so slightly. His Necklace glowed a bright blue, before taking on a secondary, almost colorless, black glow. Then, the commoner suddenly collapsed.

A stark silence once again took over the courtyard. No one knew what to do. Louise was petrified. Had she actually killed her second familiar today?  
The silence was cut short by a familiar Germanic-accented voice.

"Well, that's no surprise. The Zero manages to summon two familiar and somehow manages to lead them both to their deaths."

This snide comment was followed by the raucous laughter of the Zerbst's sycophant followers. Louise started trembling in response.

"NO HE'S NOT DEAD! He's not, right, Professor?"

The balding man, who had been standing silently this whole time was jerked out of his ruminations by this direct address. He crouched over the robed man and squinted his eyes, to get a better look at him. An odd glow caught his eye. The source was the carved amulet the poke out past his hood. H

The design itself should have been enough to draw his attention, as the carvings held no root with any of the nations that he knew of. There was an intricate design – a circle, surrounded by triangles, which were held up by swirling waves – carved into the rectangular centerpiece. Flanking it were a couple sets of fangs and jagged bones. There was, however, another set of carvings that seemed to superimpose onto the set underneath it. These carvings gave off the black glow that had grabbed his attention. These carvings looked so familiar, but he couldn't figure out from where. If only he had his books…

"-fessor? Professor? Is he ok or not? Can I summon another familiar or not?" Louise's voice once again brought Colbert out of his studies. On a more cursory, he noticed the rise and fall of the man's chest, signaling that he was still breathing.

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Valliere. He is still alive, just exhausted, probably from slaying that dragon. Follow me. We shall take him to the infirmary. You should be proud of yourself, Ms. Valliere. You did more than you shouted. You summoned something strong enough to single-handedly kill a full-grown dragon. To the rest of you, class is dismissed for the day. Spend the rest of the day familiarizing yourselves with your familiars." Colbert turned with a soft chuckle at his own (horrible) pun and levitated the downed familiar with a wave of his wooden staff.

Louise perked up at this and followed Professor Colbert to the castle-like building of the Academy.

* * *

The remainder of the students congregated in the courtyard promptly dispersed, with varying thoughts running through their heads, mostly along the lines of great awe. A certain tanned redhead licked her lips as she walked away. A man strong enough to defeat a dragon with his own two bare hands, huh? Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst had found her new flame.

Soon, only two figures were left in the courtyard, a blue dragon, not as big as the one whose corpse lay still in the center of the courtyard, and a tiny blue-haired girl, who was waiting for her familiar to come out of her daze-like state.

The dragon finally snapped out of its daze and looked around, looking for signs of any other people. Satisfied that there were no others around besides her Big Sister, she started prodding her human master with her snout.

"Big sister! Tabitha! That man! He's scary? Did you see? He killed a dragon! A dragon bigger than me! Irukuku doesn't wanna die!" the dragon whispered out, in a panicked tone.

"I will protect you," the now named Tabitha responded before turning around and walking to her quarters, with her more at-ease familiar in tow.

* * *

Tseten groggily opened his eyes to the sight of a white ceiling. He was a in a bed, a comfortable one at that. He pushed himself into a sitting position. He lightly shook his head of any drowsiness and surveyed his surroundings. He was in an infirmary of sorts, judging by the rows of similar white beds that surrounded him. Next to his bed was a chair, and in that chair was the pink-haired little girl, the same one that had kissed him.

She looked a lot better now, as if a heavy weight had been taken off her shoulders. Had this been his doing? Was it because of this…bond that he felt with her now? If so, then he was content. Even if it wasn't knowingly, he had brought peace to an ill soul, yet another one to add to his growing list.

The girl jerked awake. She looked around, as he had, to remember her surroundings. When her eyes set upon him, a myriad of emotions passed through her eyes – pride, confusion, elation, and some sort of forced condescension.

"You there, Familiar! What is your name?" she asked, in a Breton dialect. Trying to learn the languages of all the races was a good thing, for once.

"My name is Tseten, meaning stable life. I am a traveling monk, whose sole purpose in life it to bring peace and enlightenment to others. I assume you were the one who has brought me to this land?"

Louise paused, put off by his calm nature and easy acceptance of his situation. She willed herself, mentally chanting 'rule of steel' to herself. "I am Lousie Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere, third daughter of the Valliere family, and more importantly, your master. You, Seh-tehn, are my familiar, meaning that you are my servant. You will address me as Master and for you, my word is law, do you understand?"

"I understand, Lady Valliere," Tseten nodded, a slight frown pulling at his lips.

"Good, then you shall accompany me to my room. I have work for you," Louise commanded with a hint of haughtiness.

Tseten pulled himself out of bed, noting that one of his gauntlets, the unbroken one, was on the table beside him. He put it on as he followed this little girl to her living quarters. The walk was long, but thankfully, it was nighttime, so there were not many people around, making it easier for him to navigate the vast, empty corridors.

He looked out of one of the windows, and had to pause for a bit. There were two moons in the sky, yes, but they weren't the same two moons that he had grown up under. If anything they were the opposite, with the lesser one being red and the greater one blue. That settled it. He wasn't only in a land outside of Tamriel. He was in a land beyond Nirn itself.

"What are you doing, familiar? Stop wasting time and follow me!"

Tseten was shaken from his thoughts, and picked up his pace until he was two paces behind this powerful conjuror. Truly astonishing. They walked and walked until they eventually reached a small one-bed room. Tseten followed Louise into her room and was greeted with a bundle of clothes to the face.

"Wash those, and wake me at dawn in the morning, I have classes tomorrow."

"It worries me that you do not have the knowledge to properly care for your belongings, but this once, I shall tend to them for you. Maybe at some point, you will allow me to teach you to do this on your own. It is not healthy to have someone walk you through life. You must learn to walk on your own to feet. Only then, will you truly be living your own life."

Louise sputtered in response to this. "What are you talking about? I am a noble! I do not need to learn how to do such demeaning work! That is the work of servants, like you! I thought you said you understood our relationship."

"I said that I understood what you were saying. That does not mean that I agree with it. Regardless of our origins, we, as sentient beings, are all created by the same beings and created equally. That aside, I will tend to your garments alone just this once, but I expect you to accompany me next time, so that I may teach you how to properly do it. Now, you are still young, and need your rest. Go to sleep. We will talk more in the morning." He gathered the clothing into a bundle folded over his unarmored left arm, turned around, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Through the clothed door, he heard of a yell of "NO BREAKFAST!" as he shook his head. This girl was going to take a long time to teach, but the hard cases like her always bore the most fruit, both for her and for himself.

* * *

Tseten wandered the halls for the while, before he realized that he had lost his way. Through experience, he realized that the best course of action was to find a way outside.

He wandered around more, until he ran into another person, a girl, probably a servant, judging by her lack of the haughtiness that most of the nobles in this land seemed to have. He approached her in hopes of getting her assistance.

"Excuse me, miss. I am Tseten, summoned familiar of Lady Valliere. I was wondering if you could lead me to the nearest washbasin," he said lifting up the bundle of clothes on his arm to further explain his situation. "I apologize if this takes away from your duties."

The maid 'eep'ed and started blushing. "It's no problem, Sir Familiar. I was just on my way to wash other clothing myself. Allow me to take that off of your hands."

"Ah, you truly are a kind soul, girl. You do not need to call me by such titles, however. You, me, and every other person in this castle are made equal in the eyes of our Creator. Now, if you would trouble me for another moment of your time, would you please tell me your name? I really need something to call you other than 'girl.'"

The girl blush seemed to deepen as she took the bundle of clothes from him. "M-my name is Siesta. I am a maid here. You said these were for Lady Valliere, right? I'll get on them right away," she said quickly before running off in the opposite direction.

"What a strange girl she was, that Siesta," Tseten mumbled to himself. "Well, the night is still young. It would do me well to try to learn my way around this labyrinth of a castle."

Tseten wandered around a bit more before he saw a pair of people, a blonde boy and a brunette girl, sitting by a fountain. The boy leaned to the girl, probably whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

"Ah, young love. I would do best to leave them be. Now, I believe Miss Valliere had a hay pile set up for me…"

* * *

Tseten woke up right as the sun rose. He approached Louise's bed and found her cocooned in her voluminous sheets. He carefully extricated them from her body before giving her a light shake.

"Miss Valliere, it's time for you to wake up," he said softly, as to give her a gentler awakening. Her eyes cracked open, still muddled by her drowsiness.

"Huh? Wahh?" she rubbed her eyes and saw him. "Oh, it's just you. My clothes for the day are in the top drawer of that dresser over there. Go fetch them and dress me."

"Like I said yesterday, you must learn to do things on your own to truly experience the life granted to you by the Divines. I will go halfway and retrieve them for you, but dressing yourself is something you definitely must do on your own."

He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a bundle of folded clothing, not unlike the set she had thrown at him the night before. He set them at the foot of her bed. He nodded in her direction before leaving the room. As he shut the door, he heard a loud yell of "NO LUNCH EITHER!"

* * *

A short time later, his summoner left her room, completely dressed and deeply scowling.

"I will have to discipline you later. Right now, I am going to go to breakfast, then class. Follow me, and don't stand around this time," she gritted out.

Tseten responded with a smile and a nod that seemed to deepen her scowl even more. They once again trekked through the halls until they reached a large dining hall.

"Familiar, you will sit on the ground like the rest of the beasts here. You are not to receive any food from the servants," Louise stated as she seated herself.

"Now, Lady Valliere, I must disagree with you there. First off, call me Tseten. It is my given name and I shall not have you, or anyone else, deprive me of it. Secondly, as I stated last night, we are equal in the eyes of our creator. You and I are both humans, and I shall not have you take that away from me by making me eat off the ground. I am not asking you to give me a seat at that table, but at least grant me my right to a chair," Tseten said firmly.

"You are in desperate need of discipline, aren't you, familiar? That's it! I will order the staff to not feed you for the remainder of the day and I will further discipline you tonight."

"Lady Valliere, I see that your stubbornness has blinded you . I truly feel sorry for you. There is an empty chair in that corner though, and I will take it for myself. I will be back promptly," Tseten nodded again and walked off to the corner, leaving Louise to angrily eat on her own, though the deliciousness of the food quickly melted away any frustration that was previously plaguing her. Her morning was once again made sour by the familiar cry of a Germanian dialect.

"Good morning, Louise! I see you're as boisterous as ever," a tanned redhead yelled across the room as she approached Louise.

"Muu. Kirche," Louise gritted as the busty beauty approached her. Nothing could have made this morning worse.

"Oh, hello there. I do not believe we have met. I am Tseten, familiar of Lady Valliere. A pleasure," a familiar baritone called out, followed by the thump of wood on the stone floor.

Louise spoke too soon.

"Ohhhhh! Louise's familiar! You're so well-mannered! I am named Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst, but you can call me Kirche," the bubbly redhead exclaimed wrapping her arm around Tseten's broad shoulder. "And this is my familiar, Flame. He's a salamander."

Tseten ducked out of Kirche's embrace and bent down to see the salamander eye to eye.

"My you truly are a magnificent creature," Tseten commented, rubbing the salamander's red head, while staring at the flame at the tip of its tail.

"If you think that's impressive, wait 'til you see Tabitha's. She summoned a dragon, though I think you may already be used to those," Kirche continued, unfazed by Tseten's avoidance of her affections. She pointed to a small bluenette, whose bespectacled face was buried in a tome.

"Grrrrrr. GET AWAY FROM MY FAMILIAR, ZERBST!" Louise cried as she grabbed Tseten's hand and pulled him away from the redhead.

"I guess this is goodbye then. Farewell, Lady Kirche and Lady Tabitha," Tseten stated as he followed Louise to wherever he was dragging him.

Once they were out of the dining hall, Louise's anger subsided, but not enough to wipe the scowl off of her face.

"You stupid familiar. Now I'm going to be late for class," Louise state as she hurriedly paced towards her classroom. "If you didn't waste time socializing with that Zerbst, we wouldn't have to be in such a rush."

"I apologize. However, I can't just _not_ introduce myself to those who wish to know me. If I have something, anything, in my possession that they are in need of, I will gladly offer it to them. Furthermore, we need not rush everywhere in life. Sometimes, we must take out time and admire the handiwork of our creators, the Div–" Tseten said, matching Louise's brisk pace with his own long strides, before he was cut off.

"Oh hello! Miss Valliere!" a familiar voice called out.

"Mister Colbert?"

"Could I have a moment of your time? I would like to study the runes on your familiar's pendant."

"Actually, I have class right now…"

"It's okay, I will be brief. I mean, a familiar summoned by the one dubbed 'the Zero' couldn't be just any Commoner, right?" Louise seemed to deflate when she heard her title. Tseten noticed this, and decided to join the conversation.

"If I may be of assistance – Mister Colbert, was it? – I can offer you my amulet for your studies, but I urge you to take good care of it, for it was a gift from a man of high standing from where I hail," Tseten said, removing his amulet. When the amulet was removed from his body, the faint black glow disappeared.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Familiar!" Colbert exclaimed, gratefully taking the relic from the monk.

"Call me Tseten. You seem like a well-learned man, Mister Colbert. I would like to speak with you more at a more opportune time!" Tseten responded, waving as his master dragged him off.

"Of course! Always a pleasure to hold conversation with another intellectual, and I'll return this as soon as possible, and call me Jean," Colbert called back.

"What a nice man, looking out for you, his student so diligently," the monk commented, as he and Louise sped through the hallways.

"Yeah, yeah. What ever. We're already late. Hurry up!"

"Yes, yes, of course, Lady Valliere."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: This little tidbit is a bit more for me than it is for y'all, but I put it up on this site, at the risk of jacking up my word count, since some of you guys had questions about Tseten's shouts and stats. Also, for the guest reviewer who said that Tseten was submissive, I didn't intend for him to turn out that way. Think of it from his perspective: He's in an unknown, possibly hostile land; the best course of action is to follow their traditions. He can only hope to make a big enough ripple to help change their stagnant view on society. **

****On a side note, I am extremely unpleased with how this chapter turned out, especially at the end. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I rewrote it (8 times) I couldn't satisfy my standards. So, I apologize for that.****

**Name: Tseten  
Hometown: Riften  
Level (est): 67**

**As there is a lot of fighting, both in the land of Skyrim and the land of Halkeginia, Tseten will have multiple sets of clothing with the same enchantments.**  
**Armor: Monk Robe, but for the sake of the aesthetics and the story, it'll be Hooded Monk Robe. With Fortify Restoration and Magicka Regen and Resist Disease**  
**Helmet: Mage Hood, which, once again, for the sake of aesthetics, looks more like the hood from the Hooded Monk Robes. With Fortify Restoration and Fortify Alchemy**  
**Gloves: Dwarven Gauntlet [just one] (Legendary), now Dragonplate Gauntlets (Legendary). With Fortify Unarmed and Fortify Smithing**  
**Boots: Pleated Boots. With Fortify Stamina Regen and Resist Fire**  
**Amulet: Ancient Nordic Amulet. With Resist Magic and Fortify Magicka (changed to Blessing of the ****Vættr****, which is a made-up enchantment that boosts Magicka, Health, and Stamina)**

**Ring: Silver Ring, with Resist Poison and Fortify Health Regen**

**Spells: Healing, Healing Hands, Heal Other, Close Wounds, Greater Ward, Transmute Mineral Ore, Ebonyflesh**

**Skill trees (assumed 100 unless stated otherwise): Restoration (Legendary), Alteration (76), Heavy Armor (Legendary), Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Speech**

**Shouts (Known, not necessarily used): Whirlwind Sprint (use), Unrelenting Force (use[uncommon]), Bend Will, Dragon Aspect (use), Soul Tear, Become Ethereal (use), Call Dragon (N/A), Call of Valor (use), Dragonrend (use), Fire Breath (just Yol), Kyne's peace (use), Summon Durnehviir (use[rare])**

**Effects/Abilities: Dragonskin (Yes, he's Breton, though raised in Skyrim, which also means he has a base of 25% resistance to Magic), Sailor's Respite, _Feim _Meditation, Lord Stone, Agent of Mara, Agent of Dibella, Dragonborn Force, Secret of Arcana, Mora's Boon, Seeker of Sorcery, Secret Servant**

* * *

"As you all know, there are five aspects of magic: fire, wind, water, earth, and the lost element known as void," the teacher droned on. "Among them, earth has certain properties that allow for the creation of matter."

"Very interesting. I wonder which of these aspects the branch of lightning would fit under…" Tseten mumbled to himself as he scribbled notes onto a notebook. "What a curious world I live in."  
"Be quiet!" Louise whispered sharply.

"My apologies, Lady Valliere. If you missed anything, I am more than willing to share my notes with you," the monk softly responded with a grin.

"That's not the point!" she hissed back.

"Miss Valliere, did you understand that?" the professor called out, causing Louise to jerk up.

"Ah…umm… yes, of course I did," she responded with a forced bravado. "The basis of all earth magic is transmutation, which pretty much encompasses all magic related to life."

The rest of the class went by pretty normally, barring Louise's explosive attempt at transmutation.

"It's alright, Lady Valliere. Even in my lands, very few mages possess the ability to change the property of metals."  
"Yeah, well, that's not the point. The point is that I, a noble, couldn't do a simple transmutation."

"What does being able to cast magic have to do with being a noble?"

"I forget about how ignorant you are," Louise sighed, causing Tseten's brow to furrow slightly. "The nobles are Brimir's chosen children, and are thus given the ability to cast spells."  
"I would like to remind you that my lack of knowledge is not due to ignorance, but rather literal lack of knowledge. I do not take kindly to being called things I am not. I have respected your countless wishes thus far, and it is right to extend the same courtesy to me."

Louise opened her mouth to object and chastise her familiar, but was cut off by an armored hand held out in front of her.

"Lady Valliere, it is rude to interrupt. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, your province's system of nobility. I find it utterly ridiculous. What kind of god would have a preference to such a small amount of his subjects? That simply doesn't make sense. The way I see it is that the strong are abusing and misinterpreting the use of the powers granted to them by their god. If your man-turned-god is anything like the one of my land, he would have a pure heart and a just mind. He would grant power unto others, not for the purpose of suppression or segregation, but rather for the purpose of support and protection. Lady Valliere, you would do well to remember that."

"You… You are a heretic! You are a filthy, unreliable _dog_ of a familiar who dares defile the Brimiric Law? How dare you! You will be punished _now!_" Louise screeched, pointing her want at knowing that it would unleash an explosion. Tseten recognized this and quickly threw up a lesser ward, to at least slightly curb the brunt of the impending explosion. He clenched his teeth as the sound of a bang echoed throughout the school ground.

Louise was left slightly scathed, while Tseten on the other hand, was left in a set of charred robes and lightly burned.

"Punish me all you want, Lady Valliere. I forgive you for your stubbornness every time, as I understand more than most how hard it is for you to change the way you've been taught to think," the monk coughed out as he lay prone on the ground.

"W-what ever," Louise mumbled out as she turned her back to him and left.

Tseten lay there with a sad smile on his face. These nobles were truly a test of his will and his faith. He laid his head down, to rest his sore body. As he was about to fall asleep, a soft soprano caught his attention.

"Um, you're Miss Valliere's familiar, Seh-tehn, right?"

Tseten looked up, to see the face of the maid who had assisted him the previous night.

"Ah, Miss Siesta. A pleasure to meet you," Tseten breathed out, as his stomach growled and his vision faded to black.

Tseten woke up to the smell of food. He was rested in a wooden chair with a small table in front of him.

"Ah, Mister Tseten! You're okay!" Siesta, who had just entered the room exclaimed with a smile on her face. "I got some food for you, though it's just some leftovers, and I apologize for that."  
"It's nothing to apologize for, Miss Siesta. I have learned to be thankful for anything I receive from others. Also, just call me Tseten. I require no titles," Tseten said, accepting the plate of stew that Siesta had set before him.

"O-oh. Okay then, Mi – Tseten," Siesta stuttered, blushing deeply.

"Hmmm. This stew is delicious. My regards to the chef," Tseten hummed out.

"Oh, I will pass on the message to Marteau," Siesta chirped. "Also, I just would like to say that I really admire your courage. Not many commoners can stand up to nobles the way you did."

"It was nothing. I merely wished to defend my rights as a human being."

"I mean it. Nobles can be very… cruel to people like us."

Tseten's gaze hardened at this. He noticed Siesta flinch back slightly and immediately softened his gaze.

"Miss Siesta, I would like to offer my aid as payment for your generosity."

"What? No, it's ok. I was just doing the right thing."

"And that is exactly why you deserve payment for your services. Anything you need help with today, I shall perform to the best of my abilities. And Miss Siesta, how much did this meal cost you?"

"Like I said, there's no need for you to pay," Siesta said, smiling nervously.

"Very well then. I will give you this amount in addition to my service today," Tseten said, with a tone of finality, as he placed a bulging pouch in front of Siesta. "Go ahead, take it, and count out the fruits of your generosity."

Siesta did exactly that, pouring the contents of the bag onto the table, in awe at the large number of _real_ gold coins that poured out.

"F-fifty gold coins! That's nearly half as much as I make in a year!" Siesta cried out. "There is absolutely no way that I can take this much."

"If there is no way that you can see, then you must look harder. Almost anything and everything is possible. Take the coins. But first, is there a suitable place for me to change? My ragged attire would reflect poorly on you if I were to help you with your duties while wearing them."

"Of course! You can change right here! I'll just wait outside," Siesta stammered as she hastily pulled the coins back into the pouch and putting the pouch in one of the folds of her dress.

Several moments later, Tseten exited the room, wearing a fresh set of orange robes, with the yellow, hooded scarf. He had his charred robes draped over his left arm.

"I would hate to ask for more from you, Miss Siesta, but would you take these and possibly wash them for me? Thank you," Tseten nodded as Siesta took the old robes from him.

Tseten was helping Siesta serve the nobles, as he had been doing with her for the past hour, before a loud feminine cry disturbed the general peace.

"Guiche! Please stop lying and tell me the truth!"

"Wait, I did it for the sake of your reputation!"

"I couldn't care less about that! I wish to know why!"

Tseten decided that now was a time to step in and hopefully settle this conflict. Once he located the source of the disturbance, he quickly approached the quarrelling couple and frowned at what he saw. There was a blonde boy, the one he had seen the night before, arguing with a brunette, the same on the blonde was flirting with previously, and blonde girl.

"Tseten, I think it's better if you don't get involved," Siesta pleaded, but Tseten chose to stay and see if there was any way for him to peacefully resolve this conflict. He watched as the boy started flailing his arms around and spinning in circles. In the corner of his eye, he saw a stack of papers fall to the ground. He bent over and picked it up, examining it; it was a set of love notes addressed to two different girls. Tseten frowned and approached the trio.

"Boy, you should know better than to play with the hearts of innocent maidens," Tseten said, his deep voice causing all others to go silent. The boy looked over, and sneered at the commoner who dared interrupt his conversations.

"And what proof do you have, commoner."

"I have this stack of letters, addressed to two different names," he responded, holding up the stack in his hand. This caused the two girls two scowl at the now cowering boy and deliver a smack to each cheek

"You reap what you sow boy. If you decide to plant seeds of deceit into the heart of a women, you will be met with a stinging cheek."

The boy pulled himself onto his knees, his eyes hidden under his bangs.

"You, commoner. Do you have any idea who you are speaking to, or what you have done?"

"I have ousted a con-artist, who bamboozles the hearts of others," Tseten replied calmly, even with a frantic Siesta trying to convince him to stop.

"You have disrespected a noble and brought two beautiful women to tears. You will be punished commoner! Meet me at the Vestri Court in an hour's time. We shall duel there."

Tseten nodded. He was out of options. He tried to be peaceful. He tried to talk his way though, but none that worked. Now, he had to take the least favorable route, just to show an over-privileged boy the errors of his actions. Tseten steeled his gaze and his will and walked off in the same direction as the blonde boy. He never noticed Siesta running off, with a determined glint in her eyes.

On his way to the designated battlefield, Tseten was interrupted by his pink-haired master and Siesta.

"What do you think you are doing, familiar?" Louise yelled, waving her arms about. "Just bow down and apologize to Guiche."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot apologize for a nonexistent mistake. I will meet this boy at his chosen meeting point and show him the errors of his ways. Perhaps you will learn something too," he responded, not even slowing his pace.

"Oh my, even your master agrees with me. Why don't you just do what she says and grovel? I might even let you live."

"I will do nothing of the sort. We shall fight, and we will both grow from it."

During this short exchange, a sizeable crowd accumulated around Guiche and Tseten. Tseten looked through the crowd, recognizing Kirche, Tabitha, Louise, and Siesta. They were murmuring about the possible outcomes of the duel and Louise was frantically shouting for him to cease what he was doing. They were all silenced as the two combatants took their places opposite each other.

"I am Guiche de Gramont. My runic name is 'The Bronze' and I shall be your opponent!" Guiche cried out with a flourish of his cape.

"I am called Tseten, meaning 'stable life.' I am also known as the Last Dragonborn, the Wandering Monk of Skyrim, the Savior of the Sun, Solstheim, and Nirn, and the Unknown Prisoner. I accept your invitation to a duel. May I ask for the terms of this duel?" Tseten calmy stated, his baritone easily echoing through the courtyard. People started to murmur

"Very well then. I shall fight using my magic, obviously, and you can fight with whatever you want."

"I find these terms reasonable and opt to fight with my fists. We shall begin on your mark."

Guiche responded with a twirl of his rose wand, causing a petal to fall to the ground and morph into a turquoise automaton.

"Let's see how you stand up against my Valkyrie, commoner!"

The Valkyrie dashed forward, pulling its spear back for a stab. Unfortunately for it, Tseten had experience fighting enemies like it with the hundreds of Dwarven Spheres he had faced in his travels. He sidestepped the thrust and quickly shot his armored hand at the center of the construct, its thinnest part.

The metal dented and snapped under the force of his blow and the Valkyrie fell apart. Guiche growled and summoned six more of bronze soldiers. Tseten grunted and weaved through them causing them to slash at each other. Just as Guiche was about to summon more, he felt a sharp pain as Tseten's unarmored fist slammed into his gut. Guiche, in a state of panic, created a sword and started swinging it wildly. Tseten flowed around the unrefined swings with ease and grabbed Guiche by the throat with his unarmored hand. Guiche, in a final act of desperation, stabbed the sword into Tseten's shoulder. He, along with everyone else, gasped as the last Dragonborn kept a steady grip.

"You obviously have never been in a real fight before, boy. You rely too much on your summons and lost any edge you had when they were taken from you," Tseten ground out. He tightened his grip around Guiche's neck. "However, I do not have the rights to your life, and will give you a chance at survival. Do you yield? As of now, your next words shall dictate the length of your life. Your fate is in your own hands."

"I yield! I yield!" Guiche whimpered, as tears flowed freely from his eyes. Tseten loosened his grip and gently placed Guiche back on the ground. The boy collapsed onto his behind and started sobbing harder than before.

"You chose wisely, Sir Guiche. Be glad that it was me you were fighting. I would never think about taking a life unless it was the last choice."

Everybody in the court was silent for a grand total of 8 seconds before it exploded in cries of surprise. How was a commoner able to defeat a noble? How did he not flinch when he had a freaking _sword_ stabbed into him? Tseten took it all in stride as he calmly pulled the sword out of his shoulder. He threw the sword at the ground, causing it to instantly crumble into dust. He staggered a bit, but was steadied by Siesta and Louise, who had rushed to his side.

"What were you thinking? Fighting a noble bare-handed like that," Louise scolded. "You even got yourself hurt."

"This is of no consequence," Tseten calmly replied. His hand pulled out a red flask from the folds of his robes and drank it in one gulp. To the girls' amazement, his wounds, even the heavy stab wound, started sizzling before they closed completely.

"Wha – how?" Louise stuttered out. "There's no way that drinking such a little potion can heal that much."

"I did it through the art of alchemy. I just mixed a couple ingredients together. In this case, it was blue dragonfly and charred skeever."

"What in the founder's name is a skeever? There's no such thing as anything by that name in all of Halkigenia."

"I had hoped that you figured it out by now, especially with all of the hints that I have been laying out since I met you. I am not from Halkigenia; I'm probably not even from the same planet as you, judging by how different our moons are. I am from the province of Skyrim, in the land of Tamriel, and on the planet of Nirn."

"So you're saying that I, the Zero, was able to summon not one, but two beings, one of which was a dragon, from a different planet?!" Louise exclaimed, her voice filled with a mix of astonishment and pride.

"That is correct. That's why it would be illogical for me to abide by the tenants of your religion. I am a being from a realm beyond your Brimir's reach, a land with Nine Divines of its own."

"I…I need to think about this. Leave. I will spend the remainder of the day alone," Louise stated, visibly deflating. As she walked the crowd, which heard the entire revelation, absentmindedly parted a path for her.

"Very well. I bid you good day. If you need me, I will probably be in the library," Tseten said with a bow. As Tseten turned to leave, a pair of small, soft hands grabbed his free hand.

"E-excuse me, Tseten," Siesta squeaked, "Would you please come with me before you go to your studies?"

Tseten merely nodded as he let Siesta lead him through the hall and down some stairs to a room that appeared to be a kitchen. He was sat at a table as Siesta wandered off to get something for him.

He sat patiently as he waited for his acquaintance to retrieve whatever it was that she had for him. His brows rose slightly when he saw her come back with a man, dressed in a manner similar to the cooks of his homeland.

"Hello, friend of Siesta. My name is Tseten. I assume the reason why she brought me here was to introduce me to you."

"Yer a smart one, aren't ya? The name's Marteau. I'm the head chef here at the academy. I understand that you defeated a noble using nothing but your fists."

"That is correct. You said you were the chef here, correct? Then I would like to thank and compliment you for the food that I was gifted with this morning. I would also like to repay you for the sustenance, as I did for Siesta," Tseten responded, pulling out yet another pouch from the folds of his cloak.

"Now, now, friend. You put that away. It would be horrible of me to take away the life savings of Our Shield, the one who defended the commoners from the nobles. In fact, it should be me who owes you" Marteau boomed back, pushing the pouch back to Tseten.

"Well, in that case, I shall ask you for access to a smithing forge. In return for so great a demand, you will take this coin purse as payment," Tseten replied, with a sly glint in his eye.

"You're a clever one, Our Shield. Very well, I will take the gold. Siesta here will take you to the academy blacksmith. Give him this knife to be sharpened and say that Marteau sent you with access to the forge," Marteau said as he passed a large knife to Tseten with one hand and took the pouch with the other.

"I thank you, Marteau. May we meet again," Tseten said, with another bow. He then turned and followed Siesta across the castle to a stony courtyard, covered in soot marks.

Sitting on the grindstone was a heavyset man, who hardly took notice of his two guests.

"Excuse me, smith. I come with a request from the chef Marteau. He asks that you sharpen this knife for him," Tseten called out.

"Marteau, you say? Show me the knife."

Tseten approached the smith and held out the knife for him to examine. The smith's gloved hands grabbed the knife by the blade and scrutinized it. After a short moment, the smith started laughing, his shaking body sending clouds soot and ash everywhere.

"Excuse me, are you not going to sharpen it?" Siesta asked.

"No, the knife was more of a proof of assent, rather than an actual request. The knife was already freshly sharpened," Tseten explained, a knowing smile on his face.

"O-ho! Do you fancy yourself as a smith, boy?" the smith barked.

"I've spent many hours under the light of a forge. I am Tseten, traveling monk, alchemist, and self-taught smith."

"Show me your work then, Tseten. I see that you are missing a gauntlet there. I will allow to use my forge, just this once, to make yourself a new one. If you make something passable, I will give you my name along with access to my forge. If you fail to meet my expectations, I will never allow you to step foot in this armory again. You may use my iron and my leather. Prove your worth."

Tseten nodded as he approached the forge. He pulled some heavy materials from the seemingly endless folds of his robes and set them down on the bench with a heavy _thunk._ He pulled out one piece of leather hide and cut it into multiple strips, which he sewed into something resembling a glove.

The monk put the unidentified material into the flames, and let it heat up for a while until it was hot enough to mold easily. The heated material was then transferred to the anvil using tongs. After an hour of pounding, the material was broken down shaped into pieces that fit more easily onto gloves. The underside was then wrapped with the scale-like material and metal.

Tseten looked down at his handiwork, a pair of leather gloves, covered in the bone-and-scale-like material. The smith got up from the grindstone, where he had been watching the dragonborn work for the past hour with mild interest, and got a closer look at the gauntlets. He picked them up and gave them a scrutinizing glance, throwing them up and down to guess a weight.

"What material did you use to make this, Tseten? It's surprisingly light. If I had to guess, I'd have to say that the two of them together weigh about the same as 8 iron ingots."

"You'd be correct, smith. I used the bones and scales of a dragon that I defeated when I was brought to this world. The technique needed to craft with this material took me many hours of soot and fire to master."

"Very nice. Very, very nice. I'd reckon that this work surpasses mine entirely. You've earned my respect not only as a fellow man, but also as a fellow smith. My name is Los, Master Blacksmith of the Tristain Academy of Magic. I would be honored to have one as talented as yourself to work my forge," Los said with a crude bow.

"I thank you, Los. I must apologize for my abruptness, but I must go to the library. There's someone that I'm hoping to find there," Tseten replied, bowing deeply to the blacksmith.

"Then go, and don't forget to visit me every now and then. It's almost as though everyone in this Academy has forgotten about me."

Tseten nodded once more and left, with Siesta in tow. He had a professor to talk to.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: I swear I've written and rewritten this chapter multiple times, and I just couldn't get it the way I wanted it to turn out. Also, many apologies for the gap. I've been pretty swamped with midterms, as well as a dance group competition (which my team won!). Needless to say, I've made myself pretty damned busy with a great deal of self-imposed obligations, and have tried to squeeze this story into the little gaps granted to me.**

* * *

Tseten arrived at the library and bid farewell to Siesta, who had her own duties to tend to. The collection of books was truly impressive. It was easily four times as large as the Arcaneum in the College of Winterhold, one of the biggest collections of books in Skyrim. He walked to the nearest shelf, pulled out a book, and skimmed through it. This process was repeated ten more times before his sizeable stack caught the attention of the man he was looking for earlier.

"Ah, Tseten! I was looking for you. I've been studying the runes on your amulet to the best of my abilities, and still no results. It's awfully frustrating, yet wonderfully fresh, to have something so esoteric to look at," the professor excitedly gushed. "I have a sketch of them here, do they mean anything to you?"

The teacher held out a sketch of intricate runes, runes unlike any found in Skyrim. The monk shook his head.

"I can't say I have. Runes from a place beyond my knowledge and yours… What a curious world I've been brought to."

"What do you mean 'a curious _world_?' I was under the impression that you were from just a different country, possibly from the lands to the east of the Elven lands, Rub' Al Khali."

"Well you'd be incorrect, Mr. Colbert. I'm actually a little surprised, really. You heard about my duel with the Gramont boy, but not about the revelations that I told Lady Valliere after said duel, a revelation that most of the students overheard."

"No, no. I've heard nothing of the sort. What is it? What is it?!" Colbert franticly stated, getting out of his chair and putting his faces inches away from Tseten's. Tseten responded by putting his hand on the scholar's shoulder and gently pushing him back into his seat.

"Sit, friend. It would be easier for you this way," Tseten calmly stated. "I am most likely from an entirely different world, if not a different realm altogether, based on your moons. I am a citizen of Skyrim, a province of the land of Tamriel. If I were to be more specific, even though you would not understand, I was mostly raised in the city of Riften, capital of the Rift."

Colbert merely sat there for a couple moments, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. His mouth opened and closed multiple times as he tried to take in the shocking news he just received.

"So… You are a being of another realm entirely, and you were brought here as the secret fifth familiar of Brimir. That can't be mere coincidence."

"My thoughts exactly. There must have been some intervention from higher beings. My guess is that the Daedric Prince, a deity of sorts, Sheogorath allowed for Lady Valliere to open a gate to my world."

"But what would a deity of your world gain from sending a monk over to a different realm?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"That makes no sense though!" Colbert chided back.

"Exactly. He's the Prince of Madness. He needs no reason to do as he does."

"How odd… I guess your world is as interesting to me as mine is to you. I would very much like to learn more about yours."

"Of course. I would be more than willing to share my knowledge with you, in return for yours, if that's all right with you. I absolutely hate being as ignorant as I currently am."

"You know something, Tseten. I think you and I will get along just fine. Now, where can we start?"

They ended up conversing and debating well into the night, discussing topics ranging from nobility and history to the alchemical uses of wild vegetation.

"I apologize, Jean, but it is getting quite late now. I would like to continue this conversation at a later date, if you would allow it."

The fire mage looked out the window and noticed the twin moons in the sky. "Ah, so it is. I have to get going as well, papers to grade and all that."

The two men of knowledge then parted ways to their own respective abodes.

At this point in time, Tseten had already completely mapped out the academy and was easily able to find his way back to his summoner's and his bedroom. He was still resting in a pile of straw, not unlike those provided by the stable-masters from his homeland. He looked over to the oversized bed that dominated the room. Louise lay on the bed, spread eagle with her sheets thrown around her. Her brow was slightly furrowed, possibly from what she had learned about him today.

Tseten smiled lightly and pulled her sheets over her, her frown lightening slightly as he did so. He retired to his own primitive cot for the night, thoughts about his new world swirling around in his mind.

Louise's eyes groggily opened as she felt a gentle nudging. She pulled herself into a sitting position and looked out the window, just in time to see the sun rise over the horizon.

"No matter where I am, the break of dawn is always beautiful," an unfamiliar, deep voice remarked, jolting Louise's half-sleeping mind. She looked around for the source until she caught site of an orange-garbed man sitting at the chair by the window. Her now-alert mind was able to identify him as her familiar. Her _human_ familiar. Her human familiar that she summoned from another world.

"Y-you really are here, aren't you, familiar?"

"Hm? Oh, lady Valliere, I see you have awakened enough to think. To answer your question, yes, I really am here. You should know, you summoned me after all"

"I- but, you are really from another world? Why'd you come back to me, a failure? I had time to think yesterday, about your titles that is. You're clearly a big deal where you came from. So why? Why are you still here, with me?" Louise desperately questioned, tearing up slightly.

"The answer to your questions is easily found. I am from another world. My titles and accomplishments mean nothing here, in another world."

"But you saved your world! You must be very powerful to accomplish something like that! You don't belong with me! It doesn't make sense!"

Tseten responded by gently placing his hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly.

"I can easily explain that as well. I don't view myself as 'strong' or 'powerful.' I am simply me, and even if I really were so great, it is, and always will be the duty of the strong to serve and support the weak, at least until the weak are strong enough to support themselves, and others. This is the philosophy I followed my whole life and I hope to pass it on to others. That way, one day, a day I probably won't live to see, the entire world will live in peace, with everyone helping and supporting each other."

Louise tried to respond, her mouth opening and closing numerous times, but she couldn't wrap her head around what he said. It was common sense that the weak had to depend on the strong, an example of this being the relationship between the commoners and nobles, but the nobles actually bringing the commoners to their levels? That was blasphemy. Commoners were commoners because they have no magic. No being other than the mighty Brimir had the power to grant such a privilege to his subjects.

"You come from another land, and a blasphemous land at that! The weak and the strong are separated by the blessings of Brimir! The strong are His chosen for a reason, and to bring the commoners to an equal level would be the same as spitting on His teachings! Anyways, what would you know? Are you even a noble?"

"You got me there. In my land, I am at best a commoner and a friend to the people. At worst, I am a fugitive from the law and runaway from an orphanage."

"That's right. You wouldn't understand what it means to be a noble, so don't think you have the right to preach to me!"

Tseten's eyes took a sad, sympathetic quality after Louise's rant. He merely glumly shook his head as he got up to her dresser, pulled out her clothing for the day, and opened the door. Before walking out, he turned around to say one last thing.

"I'm not giving up on you, Lady Valliere. I'll be spending the morning with the other familiars. Perhaps we will meet during class."

With that, he walked out, gently closing the door behind him. Louise huffed and started getting ready for the day, an annoying feeling nestling in the back of her mind.

Tseten made his way down to the courtyard, where all of the other familiars rested as their masters attended classes. He recognized a familiar red salamander among the mass. It was seated next to a small blue creature that vaguely resembled this dovah, the dragon of his world.

Flame noticed as he approached and perked up. Tseten laughed as the salamander pounced on him, nuzzling its snout with his armored hand. He then heard a whimper.

The blue dragon-like creature was inching away from him, its eyes glued onto his gauntlets. He instantly understood its fear. It was most likely a dragon of this world, and no doubt sensed that his garments were made from its kin.

"Flame, my friend, will you be so kind as to introduce me to your friend over there?" Tseten said as he leaned down and gently rubbed Flame's head. The salamander eagerly nodded and grabbed the hem of Tseten's robes in its mouth as it dragged him over to its draconian friend. The dragon in question slowly inched away as he came closer. Tseten frowned slightly. He really hoped the dragons of this world were as smart as their counterparts from his.

"Come now. There's no reason to fear me. I come as a friend."

The dragon made a noise that could only be described as "ikuu." Tseten noticed a glint of understanding in its eye. Perhaps he could teach it what he learned from his friend Paarthunax. The draconian traditions shouldn't be exclusive to his world alone, after all.

The blue familiar approached him and studied him with intelligent eyes. He held out his hands, making the dragon flinch. Tseten smiled lightly to show that he had no ill intent. The dragon stepped forward again, a little less timidly this time.

"Your master is the blue-haired girl right? I believe her name was Tabitha."

The dragon seemed to smile lightly as it started prodding at the monk's body with its snout.

"You are an interesting dragon, young one. Do you know of the tradition of tiinvak, conversation?"

The dragon cooed in a confused tone and shook it's head.

"Krosis. A shame. I actually studied very deeply with a couple of the oldest dragons of my land. I'd like to say that I'm very well versed in your traditions. Here, let me show you. Feel my thuum, my voice wash over you," Tseten said, puffing his chest out before letting out a long echoing shout. "_**Fus!**_"

A wave of blue energy pushed through the youngling, causing it to fall back a bit. It seemed to shiver for a bit, before shouting back in its signature "ikuu," launching a blue wreath from its mouth. The wreath circled around the monk, inciting the strangest feeling in him. It was like he was able to… feel the dragon's emotions, in this case, adoration.

"Pruzah. Good. Your thuum is interesting, young one, a one of a kind shout. I would love to share knowledge with you one day. I assume that you are able to speak my tongue as well?" The dragon looked around before leaning towards Tseten.

"Shhh. This is a secret. Big Sister told Sylphid not to tell anyone," the dragon whispered, using the voice of a young girl.

"Sylphid, a beautiful name. I am called Tseten, meaning 'stable life.' I hope to get to know you better in the future, Sylphid," the Tamrielian stated, sensing that their conversation was going to be interrupted very soon. His hunches were soon confirmed.

"Familiar! Come here! I have things to tell you!"

Tseten patted his two new friends again before turning around to answer his summoner's call. He approached her, smiling slightly at her, making her blush a little bit.

"Please, Lady Valliere, we've discussed this; call me Tseten." Louise nodded quickly.

"Alright. Fine. Tseten, then. I realized that I may have been a bit… rude to you earlier and forgot about your victory over the noble. Come with me to town. I'll arm you to be more suitable of being my familiar."

"A trip to town, yes? There are some places that Professor Colbert recommended to me. Let us depart, then," Tseten responded, bowing slightly, gesturing his arms towards the gate.

The trip took longer than expected, since Tseten preferred walking to riding horseback, as to "truly experience the journey." Louise couldn't understand why he wanted to waste time like this. She was giving him a gift! He should have been jumping with anxiety and excitement. The plains and forests did look nice though.

When they finally reached the city gates, a guard stopped them. Tseten wasted even more time by introducing himself to the guard and asking how his day has been so far. There was no point for such pleasantries. The man was a guard. He let people in and out of the town. That was all. Yet, somehow, her familiar was able to talk to the guard for a solid half hour before Louise decided to step in by declaring her name, lineage, and title. The guard, as expected, ceased his conversation with a hasty apology, both to her and her familiar, and let them into the city.

Her original plan was to buy him a grand weapon, befitting his role as her familiar. This plan was quickly ruined when Tseten turned down her offer and stated that he would rather have some nails, logs, glass, and iron. What would he possibly need those things for? Was he trying to build a house for himself? She already gave him a spot in his room.

The errand of getting the materials was also dragged out significantly, since Tseten decided to give gold coins to the each and every one of beggars in the streets. Louise needed to do something about this. Her familiar should be fierce and threatening, not warm and cuddly! So, after buying the assortment of building materials that he requested, she pulled him into a smith's shop.

The smith, a shifty looking man, treated them quite nicely after Louise introduced herself. He then brought out a beautiful weapon: a golden greatsword, embedded with gems. Tseten immediately rejected the weapon, pointing out the flaws in it as a practical weapon, yet somehow at the same time praising it's craftsmanship as an ornament. The smith and the monk somehow became comrades and started talking about different techniques. Since when was her familiar a skilled smith? Why didn't he tell her, so that she didn't have to waste her time bringing him out here?

After about yet another hour of meaningless conversation, the smith agreed to let Tseten choose one item from the store, free of charge. Tseten, like the madman he has proven himself to be, chose the rustiest sword, a sword that ended up talking to the monk. Finally, they embarked on the journey back to the academy, and Louise wasn't even surprised anymore when they were interrupted by that damned Zerbst and her friend Tabitha. Kirche tried to seduce Tseten and even offered to give him the same ornate sword from earlier, but he respectfully declined and stated that he had no need for such a sword, inciting a long monologue from the talking sword, now dubbed as Derflinger. Tseten then started to converse with Tabitha's dragon familiar. Louise in a fit of frustration unleashed her trademark explosion onto her familiar. It missed, hitting the wall behind him.

Tseten was having a good day. He finally had the materials necessary for him to make an enchanting table. He had a chance to help the poor people of this land. He found an interesting sword that was sentient and probably has countless years of knowledge to impart. He got to meet Sylphid again, and got to teach her more of the draconic tradition. Then, his summoner tried to blow him up again. Fortunately, she missed and hit the wall behind him. Then, the wall was hit by what appeared to be a giant arm of stone.

The last dragonborn's mind and demeanor immediately shifted to combat mode. He help up his hands and started generating a Greater Ward, to protect his master and her classmates from the raining chunks of rock. When the smoke cleared, the arm was revealed to be the arm of a massive construct, made of stone and other earthen materials.

On the shoulder of the behemoth was a hooded figure that was bragging about finally obtaining the Staff of Destruction. In the hands of the figure was a familiar staff, with horns of sorts surrounding a blue orb. It was the Staff of Magnus. How could it be here? He thought he sent it back to Artaeum, along with its accompanying Eye.

The thief then launched a stream of energy at his Ward, causing it to dispel. The golem then crumbled as the thief retreated into the woods nearby.

"Wha- Familiar? You can cast magic? I thought you said you weren't a noble?" Louise stammered out.

"I did. I was never a noble, and I probably never will be."

"But you can cast magic! You have to be a noble, no matter where you're from!"

"That's where you're wrong. Nobles, called Thanes in my land, are given their position through merit. In fact, magic is distrusted in my homeland, as most of the inhabitants preferred steel over flames."

"But you said you were a fugitive! How'd you even get the ability to cast spells?"

"I was and am a monk, raised in the Temple of Mara. The art of Restoration was taught to me since I was taken in by the priests there. My education was furthered by the college I attended and somehow became temporary arch-mage of."

"What? You were an arch-mage? You ran your own college of magic?"

"Yes. Now, we'll discuss this further at a later date. We're short on time, and there's a thief on the loose with an immensely powerful magical artifact."

Tseten then tried to decide the best course of action for catching up to the thief. On dragon was the most obvious choice, but there was no way that Odahviing would be able to cross the dimensional border, so he only had one other choice.

"_**Dur Neh Viir!"**_

The echoing shout was followed by a thundering sound as a purple portal manifested in the middle of the courtyard. A putrid stench of decaying flesh filled the air. A roar burst from the portal as the form of a deteriorated dragon started to pull itself from the depths of the purple abyss.

"Qahnariin? You've finally decided to learn the last word of the shout that I've taught you. It is _**Zol**_. Feel my knowledge wash over you."

An orange energy, tinted with purple, flowed from the dragon to the Breton. Tseten sighed as the overwhelming amount of knowledge was forced into him.

"As you can see, Durnehviir, we are no longer in Skyrim, Nirn, or even Mundus. I need you to help me chase down a thief. I will explain more on the way."

"Meyz, Qahnariin. I will allow the right that I have never given another. Climb on my back and I will help you find this _tafiir_, this thief," the decaying dragon bellowed as it lowered its head to the ground, allowing for Tseten to easily pull himself onto the dragon's shoulders.

He glanced over at Louise, who was still in shock, and shouted, "I will explain later, but for now, I must go."

Durnehviir pulled himself and Tseten into the air with several flaps of his mighty wings. The two then sped off towards the forest, in the direction the thief and her golem escaped. On the way, Tseten explained his current situation, which Durnehviir, a being from a pocket dimension, readily accepted, even going as far as to preserve his previous offer of service, disregarding the previous terms of being given time in Mundus. The two followed the trail of broken rocks until they saw the thief in a clearing, waving around the Staff like some wand.

The living-but-undead dragon landed in the clearing, making the earth shake under his massive body. The thief turned around, and in panic, summoned two more massive golems.

"Qahnariin, I will handle the creatures of Stone. You focus on getting back your staff." With that, the dragon took off once more, flying over the golems and unleashing a stream of pure frost on them.

Tseten kept his eyes on the thief, who was still flailing the staff around before scoffing and strapping it to her back and pulling out a wand. Tseten flexed his armored fingers before pulling them into fists, which he held near his face.

With a flick of her wand, the thief summoned a dozen smaller golems to keep the monk busy. Tseten stood his ground, fists raised. He then jabbed the first golem, shattering it, before letting out a quick cross with his other fist to the chest of another golem, knocking it into the construct behind it, demolishing both. He sidestepped the next one, grabbing it from behind him and hurling it at the group of three that were currently charging at him. He put his fists up once more, staring down the mage and the seven remaining golems.

"My name is Tseten, and I am a traveling monk. The staff you have taken is a dangerous artifact, and should not be in the hands of any man," the Breton bellowed out, over the sound of Durnehviir smashing through a frozen golem.

"I am called Foquet. My runic name is the Crumbling Earth, and this staff now belongs to me," the hooded theif responded as she flicked her wand.

A row of earthen spikes shot towards Tseten, who quickly jumped out of the way. Before he even landed, he was punched by a golem, which charged alongside the spikes. The monk was sent hurtling backwards, and landed on his hands before flipping back onto his feet. Four more golems were still charging at him. He leaned back and puffed out his chest before letting out his thuum.

"_**FUS RO DAH!"**_

One of the golems were disintegrated, and the other three were sent hurtling back, and shattered on contact with the ground.

"_**DIIL QOTH ZAAM!**_" a booming voice echoed through the clearing, causing black skeletal creatures materialize around them. They quickly converged on the thief and her summons, which fought back valiantly, destroying all of the undead, but were destroyed in the process. In the background, the other giant golem was crushed by Durnehviir's powerful jaw.

"I have expended too much energy, Qahnariin. Summon me again at a later time if you need more assistance," the dragon said as it was sucked back into the massive purple orb of energy.

Both combatants stared each other down. Both were panting lightly. Tseten's left hand took on a golden glow as he held it up, conjuring a shining orb, which shattered into particles of light, which washed over Tseten. His stamina restored, Tseten rushed towards the thief and let loose a powerful uppercut to the thief, knocking her back, causing her hood to fly off. A familiar head of green hair was revealed. He quickly picked up the staff, fastening it to his back before picking up the thief. He then turned back to walk towards the academy before a blue blur shot through the trees and stopped before him.

It was Sylphid, and on her back were Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha. The three mages got off of the familiar's back and surveyed the battlefield, taking in the gashes in the ground, piles of rubble, and black, ethereal dust scattered around the clearing.

"Familiar, Tseten, what the hell just happened?!" his short-tempered summoner yelled, her voice ringing throughout the once-silent clearing.

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**AN: So, yeah. Tseten is pretty knowledgeable in the tongue and ways of dovah's traditions. Such are the perks of meditating in depth not only with the Greybeards, but with their ancient draconian leader as well. I did the whole "mixing in dragon tongue" thing because a little sprinkle here and there helps plant the seed of knowledge. Also, I had originally intended to cut off this chapter before they went off to town, but after looking back on is a couple days later, I felt like it was too short. I hope the fight turned out well enough. I know a bit of kickboxing myself, but am not too good (in my opinion) at writing action scenes. **

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**Edit 3/30: Cleaned up Vaettr plot hole at the beginning of the chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! It's been a while, huh? I can't really excuse myself for that, though. I _was_ unconscious for a majority of January, but I think two months is enough time to write a chapter, especially a slightly shorter than average one... Anyways, here's chapter 4, which is mainly just a transition chapter. I'd also like to thank anyone who reviewed/followed/favorited the last couple months.**

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Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha stood in awe as the monk familiar and his dragon summon disappeared in the direction of Fouquet. An resounding silence permeated them as the dust and gravel kicked up by the mighty dragon's wings finally settled. Sylphid was the first to break the silence, with a signature cry of, "Iku!"

This jolted the three nobles from their awestruck trance. Tabitha approached her familiar and started silently conversing with it. Kirche seemed to be shivering in place, her face heavily flushed. Louise, unsurprisingly, was the most vocal in her recovery.

"What in Founder's name just happened?" she questioned, rubbing her head in frustration, "Tabitha, can Sylphid fly right now?"

Tabitha nodded while stroking the blue dragon on the neck, eliciting soft purrs.

"We need to go after him. He may have been able to defeat Guiche, but Fouquet is a mage on a completely different level."

Louise, Tabitha, and, with difficulty, Kirche were mounted on Sylphid's back.

"Did anyone see exactly which direction he went?" Louise asked frantically. A loud explosion, followed by the bestial roar of a great dragon, seemed to respond to her question.

"There," Tabitha pointed. Her familiar pulled itself off the ground with a couple flaps of its wings and darted in the direction of the sounds of destruction. The path eventually became more physically apparent, as it was marked by uprooted trees and chunks of stone.

The trail eventually led to a large clearing, littered with piles of stone and what appeared to be piles of black bones. In the center of the clearing stood Tseten, who had a body slumped over his shoulder and the Staff of Destruction secured to his back.

Louise couldn't handle the confusion anymore. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. She made eye contact with her familiar, before bellowing out the line that would echo throughout the forest.

"Familiar, Tseten, what the hell just happened?!"

The monk glanced over at his master, seemingly unfazed by the shrill voice piercing the previous silence. He looked at her, his eyes calculating.

He smiled.

"Hello Ladies Valliere, Zerbst, and Tabitha," he said casually. "Oh? And is that young Sylphid I see behind you?"

The blue dragon in question, poked its head out from behind her master and seemed to smile at him. Tabitha seemed to be just staring at him. Zerbst was blushing and doing things with her hands. Louise, on the other hand, was visibly trembling.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, GREETING US SO CASUALLY? How in Founder's name did you defeat Fouquet? What's with all of this debris around us? Explain yourself, familiar," Louise interrogated, an accusing finger pointed at Tseten. The Breton simply smiled, ever-so-infuriatingly.

"Lady Valliere, I would prefer if we got our affairs in order first. I shall meet you at the academy proper. Until then, I bid you a safe trip back."

"Familiar! Wai–"

Louise's command was cut short by a loud, thundering shout.

"**WULD! Nah Kest!"** the monk shouted, as his body seemed to disappear into the thick foliage.

The journey back the academy was rather uneventful, for both parties. The students arrived in the Vestri Courtyard to the sight of Tseten amiably conversing with a slightly nervous Professor Colbert, who kept glancing over at the incapacitated thief slung over the monk's shoulder.

"I assumed you used magic to get here before us, familiar?" Louise said as she dismounted the dragon and approached the conversing men.

"You wouldn't be entirely right with that comment," Tseten responded, rather matter-of-factly.

"Fast," was all Tabitha had to say, eliciting a quick nod of agreement from her draconian familiar.

"Yes, well, as I was discussing with Tseten, I believe that it would be best to have this conversation in Old Osmond's office, for security reasons. Follow me," the professor said as he turned to enter the school. The students followed behind him and Tseten took the tail, readjusting the body on his shoulder.

This was the first time that Tseten had seen the headmaster of the academy. The headmaster was an old man, who bore a very strong resemblance to an Alteration teacher from the College of Winterhold, save for the large difference in beard length. Tseten placed the bound and still unconscious thief in an empty chair. The headmaster stood up from the desk and approached the unconscious woman. He cleared his throat.

"As much as I appreciate the gesture, why did you bring my secretary to my office?" he said.

"Headmaster, you don't understand! Miss Longueville was Fouquet the thief! She stole the staff of destruction from your vault!" Louise interjected, before anyone else had a chance to talk.

"Hmmm. If what you are saying is true, then that's the last time I hire someone for letting me peek up her skirt," Osmond said, rather sagely, as he stroked his beard. Colbert was a bit put off by this.

"Headmaster, you can't let such frivolous things decide who you employ," he sighed out.

"Yes, yes of course. Now, what proof do you have that Miss Longueville here is Fouquet, and what could have possessed you students to pursue a triangle class mage out of your league?" the old man responded.

"Actually, headmaster, it wasn't us who chased after and defeated her. It was actually my familiar, Tseten," Louise timidly responded.

"Oh? Really? How curious. And how could a supposed commoner familiar be able to defeat a mage of her caliber?"

"Maybe you should let me explain that. I do commend your acting, by the way," Tseten said. "I defeated her using my body, along with the skills that I have acquired throughout my life."

"What do you mean by acting? Why would I need to act in front of my students and staff? Also, I would like it if you were to elaborate a bit more on how exactly you defeated a mage," Osmond responded.

"You know something about me, something that effects who I am. I would like to know what that something is. In return for this information, I will explain how I defeated such an opponent," Tseten said, smiling lightly. The headmaster rubbed his beard and paced around the spacious office for a bit, stealing a couple glances at the monk. He stopped with his back facing the Breton and turned around.

"Very well, I agree to your terms. You have my word, so long as you share first."

"I thank you. You might want to sit down for this; the explanation might take a while."

The students and the teachers complied, finding various chairs and objects to sit on, their eyes set on the orange-clad man.

"I would ask for no interruptions for the duration of this lecture, no matter how shocking the things I say may get," he said. The other occupants of the room nodded.

"I'll open up with this: I am a spellcaster, a healer, to be precise, though I have dabbled in the other schools of magecraft," Tseten said. To demonstrate, Tseten walked over the injured Fouquet and raised his hands over her. His hands let off a golden glow and the various scuffs and bruises littering her form slowly disappeared. Louise almost shouted something, but quickly stopped herself.

"I've delved into this, but the difference the magic of my homeland and yours are very apparent. Yours seems to operate and classify itself on a basis of elements. Mine, on the other hand is classified on a basis of effect. In my land, magic is a means of altering the world through magicka, an embodiment of a person's wisdom and willpower. All denizens of my world have the potential to use magic, but only some choose to pursue and advance their magical skills. Furthermore, there are six main schools of magic – Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Illusion, and Restoration – as well as two 'dead' schools – Mysticism and Thaumaturgy.

Alteration is the work of altering the physics and biology of a target. It can make skin harder-" the monk's hand let off a light blue glow that encompassed his whole body "-or make object levitate. This is the magic that I used to defend myself against the Earth mage's attacks, as well as to make my blows cause such significant damage. Conjuration is the art of summoning creatures, creating magical constructs, and reanimating bodies. The most I can do with this is summoning an ethereal wolf familiar."

With a wave of his hand, a purple orb, not unlike the one he arrived in, formed and was replaced by a blue, ghostly wolf, which started to pace around the room before disappearing in a blue discharge.

"Destruction is the branch of magic that is most similar to yours. It is divided into three sub-branches: Fire, Frost, and Lightning," as he named off every sub-branch, the named element swirled around his raised hand. "This is one of the more combat-oriented arts and is seldom used for anything beyond its namesake. Enchanting is the art of imbuing magical properties onto mundane objects. I cannot quite demonstrate this yet. Illusion deals with the mind and senses of an enemy."

It was at this point when Fouquet awoke. She started looking around, probably for an escape.

"As terrible as I feel for doing this, I will demonstrate the effects of Illusion on a human being. It can instill a sense of great rage into a person-" Tseten's armored hand glowed red, causing a red glow to form around the verdette, who started thrashing around violently, "or a sense of tranquility in a person." His hand glowed turquoise, Fouquet's glow taking the same hue. The woman calmed down and entered almost a daze of sorts.

"Moving on, the final school of magic is Restoration, the art of healing. This is the school that I am most well versed in. I have already demonstrated this. As for the two dead schools, I have somehow, inexplicably gained basic knowledge about them, so I will explain those two when I build upon that knowledge a bit more. Any questions?"

Louise was awestruck; Osmond was stroking his beard in contemplation; Kirche was flushed, panting, and squirming in her seat; Tabitha; and Colbert was hastily jotting down notes onto a pad he pulled out of no where.

The teacher was the first to break the silence.

"These schools of magic of yours are very powerful indeed. So the rumors of you summoning an undead dragon are true then? Did you use conjuration to do so?" the professor inquired, his eyes locked on the monk.

"Ah, I knew that I was forgetting something. That was a work of magic, but not that of humans-"

The monk was cut off by Louise.

"So what is it then? Did you use elven magic? That's what all you're doing looks like. You're not even using a wand to cast the spells!" the ever impatient noble remarked.

"Lady Valliere, I do wish that you'd stop interrupting me. I can explain everything in time," the monk remarked. "Now, as I was saying, summoning the dragon was not a work of human magic; it was done through the Thu'um, the Voice, the magic of the Dragons themselves. Before you ask, there are special circumstances that allow me such mastery of draconian magic. You see, I am _dovahkin_, dragonborn, a human with the blood and soul of a dragon. I am a dragon, but I am also man. Such lineage allows me to both imitate the dragon's powers, a skill that would take normal men years to master, as well as absorb the soul of any dragon I were to slay, but I digress.

The voice was what allowed me to get here before you did. I used the **whirlwind sprint**, a shout that allows my body to move great distances in seconds. Shouts can do much more, but I'd rather not demonstrate right now, as we are indoors and the Thu'um can get very, very destructive."

"To think Miss Valliere was able to summon such a powerful servant," Colbert muttered, writing more notes in his notepad. The aforementioned noble was trembling, a state that was noticed by the other inhabitants of the room. The human familiar approached his summoner, hoping to see if she was injured in any way. He quickly jumped back.

"I KNEW IT! I AM A GREAT MAGE! I SUMMONED SOMETHING EVEN BETTER THAN A DRAGON! TAKE THAT, ZERBST!" Louise yelled, in a manner very unfit of her social status.

"Lady Valliere, I appreciate your newfound confidence in me, but I would have to ask for you to calm down. I am still at best a slightly above average human, or at least I think so," the monk stated, causing Louise to look down and blush heavily. The Dragonborn looked over in the direction of the two staff members. "Now, I have given you the information that I had. It's your turn to share, is it not?"

The two started conversing silently. They turned to address the students and familiar.

" This is very sensitive information. I would ask that everyone excluding Miss Valliere and Tseten to leave the room. Tabitha, please secure Fouquet," Osmond said.

Kirche, who finally decided to talk, voiced her objection, but was dragged out by Tabitha. Osmond was the first to speak.

"Mr. Tseten, I would like to thank you for today. Not just for defeating Fouquet, but for giving us so much information. I'm sure you understand the value of knowledge," Osmond said, smiling.

"Yes, of course, that is why I asked for some in return, no?"

Osmond chuckled at this.

"Right you are, Tseten. Jean, if you will?" Osmond said, gesturing at Colbert.

"Err, right. Yes. Tseten, you let me study your amulet a while ago, and study it I did," the teacher said, holding up the amulet that Tseten had given to him. "If you look closely, the amulet gives a glow of sorts."

"Yes, that is the result of enchantment, is it not?"

"Maybe, I'm not quite sure about that. You see, it only glowed when in close proximity with you."

"That is pretty odd… Continue, please, Jean."

"What I noticed is that right here," Colbert said, indicating to the center of the amulet, "is a very small set of ruins."

Louise and Tseten leaned in to inspect the ruins, which seemed to flash when Tseten got closer. Jean noted this and continued with his lecture.

"I spent days going through book after book, looking for any set of ruins that even slightly resembled them. I eventually found three books that had anything that could be compared to your ruins," the teacher said as he placed 3 books onto the table. "_The Life of the Great Founder Brimir_, _The Powers and Familiars of the Founder, _and _A Study into the Void Element: Possible Effects and Spells_. Notice a trend with the books?"

He continued, answering his own query. "Each one of these books mentions the founder in some way shape or form. More importantly each of them mentions the Void multiple times. It is commonly known that Brimir was an accomplished mage of the Void, and that he summoned a very specific set of familiars. They are as follows: the Gandálfr, the Left Hand of God, which had the ability to have great physical prowess, rumored to be able to weild any weapon; Mjöovitnir, the Mind of God, which was given the gift to use any magical artifact; Vindálfr, the Right Hand of the God, which had the power of great charisma with both man and beast; and finally, the Lífbrasir, the Heart of God, which exponentially boosted the magical power of the Void mage."

"So you're saying that my familiar is one of those? A familiar of the Void?" Louise asked.

"Well, no and yes, Miss Valliere. Your familiar is not one of those."

"Then what was the point of listing all of that?" Louise cut of her teacher.

"If you would let me continue, you would have an answer to your own questions. Tseten is, in fact, a familiar of the void. The runes on his amulet are still strikingly familiar to the runes of the other four Familiars. You see, there have been rumors of Brimir himself having runes branded on his own chest, essentially making him his own familiar. These rumored runes are often called the runes of the Vættr, the Soul of God. The effects of these runes are what made Brimir such a fearsome mage and human being. They are said to have unlocked and surpassed the hidden potential of Brimir, giving him vast physical and mental attributes." Colbert dramatically paused, staring at Tseten for a moment before handing his amulet back to him. "Tseten, you are the Vættr. You are the Soul of God."

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**That's a wrap. I felt like that was a good place to cut off. I rewrote this chapter 6 times before getting it to where it is now, and it's just pretty much a chapter of explanations.**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN:Here's chapter 5. I cranked this out in a couple days since Spring Break happened. This one has a bit more plot than the last chapter, and goes in depth with one of my favorite characters. Also, I got a beta, who goes by the name Ahmed324, so the English will hopefully be better now.**

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'Vættr? The soul of God? That stuff wasn't supposed to exist. Brimir always had four familiars. Only _four_. Now Colbert was spouting some nonsense about a hidden fifth familiar? Why would the Founder even make himself into a familiar in the first place? How could some commoner, albeit a rather impressive commoner, even have the very soul of God? Such an idea was absurd, preposterous, absolutely–'

Louise's internal ramblings were cut off by a hand on her shoulder.

"Lady Valliere, are you alright?" The deep voice of Tseten cut through the resounding silence following Colbert's final statement.

"Of course I'm ok! Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I just found out that I summoned the bloody reincarnation of the Founder or anything!" Louise let out, panting heavily. Her familiar was unfazed by her outburst.

"Perhaps you should sit down for a bit, Lady Valliere. You must be overwhelmed by everything you learned today," the monk said as he guided his summoner over to the nearest chair. As soon as she sat down, his suspicions were confirmed to be true; the student had immediately passed out.

"Mr. Tseten, may I ask a question?" Colbert asked.

"You just asked one, but go ahead," Tseten responded, smiling lightly. Colbert flushed at this.

"Are you sure _you _are ok? Judging by everything I've seen from you, you seem to be a very selfless man, but you need to take care of yourself every now and then. You also learned a lot today, you know."

" No need to worry. I've trained my mind and body very rigorously. I would be more surprised if I couldn't handle everything that happened today," the Dragonborn responded with a serene smile.

"But you just found out that you're a familiar of the Void, the same familiar that Brimir made himself into, mind you. You practically have the soul of the Founder in you!"

"I also have the soul and blood of a dragon coursing through my body. I've killed my land's God of Destruction. I hate to flaunt my achievements in your faces like this, but it is to illustrate a point. I've handled a lot in my life. I'm sure I can handle another soul, even that of your Founder, residing in my body."

"But–"

Jean was cut off by the Headmaster, who had been silently observing the occupants of the room.

"Professor, I believe that is enough. If the man says that he can handle it, then he can handle it. I believe he has a master to tend to."

"Thank you, Headmaster Osmond. Now, I really should get going."

"Oh, and Tseten," the old mage stated, just as Tseten was about to leave the room, "Come back after you get your master some rest. We need to discuss the powerful artifact fastened to your back."

The monk nodded.

"Of course."

The hallways were relatively empty, most likely because of the attack on the vaults. The journey to Louise's room was uneventful, until the Breton reached the room itself. Tabitha and Kirche were waiting outside.

"Ah, Ladies Tabitha and Von Zerbst, how nice to see you. You two obviously have something to discuss. Let me get Lady Valliere in bed first. We can talk after that," he said, before Kirche could say what ever she was going to say.

After tucking in his summoner into her bed, Tseten removed his gloves and changed to a hoodless variant of his robe, revealing his clean-shaven head.

"I really should trim this beard at some point," he muttered to himself as he left the room.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, he held up his hand signaling for Zerbst to pause.

"I have to go back to the headmaster's office. We can talk on the way there," he said, signaling for the two to follow him.

"What did Colbert have to discuss with you two? Was it bad? Is that the Staff of Destruction? Will you bed me tonight?" Kirche impressively said in one breath.

"I will answer your barrage in the order you specified. Professor Colbert and the Headmaster had a good reason to keep the discussion confidential. If you want to know, you should ask Lady Valliere when she gets better. I wouldn't label it as bad, though. This is, in fact, the Staff of Destruction, or its proper name, the Staff of Magnus. I'm afraid I won't be bedding you tonight, Lady Von Zerbst," the Hero of Skyrim replied.

"Are you sure? I'll do anything for the information. _Anything,_" Kirche purred back.

A different voice cut in.

"I'm sure the man won't be telling you anything, Miss Von Zerbst. You would do well to leave the matter alone," replied the headmaster in Tseten's stead. "Come in, Tseten; we have much to discuss."

Tabitha dragged Kirche away as Tseten entered the office. Osmond shut the door behind him.

"As I said earlier, I need to discuss with you the staff that is currently strapped to your back. You seem to be very familiar with it."

"I am. It is an artifact from my world, after all. It is called the Staff of Magnus, a powerful magical artifact capable of siphoning the magicka and life essence of a target at an alarming rate."

"And how do you know so much about it? It's been in my possession for at least thirty years now, and you don't seem to have been alive for that long."

"I'll tell you how I have it if you offer me the same courtesy."

"Very well. Thirty years ago, I was attacked by a wild dragon during my travels. Out of nowhere, a man appeared from a portal. I glimpsed inside and saw that there were others in there guarding a large blue orb. He shot the dragon with the staff, weakening it enough for me to subdue it. The portal abruptly closed, leaving the staff, and his hand, here."

"I see. Well, I'll tell you my story, which will hopefully explain any uncertainties you may have. One year ago, I ventured to the town of Winterhold, to attend its famous college, in hopes of increasing my abilities in magecraft. As I would later learn, anything I do ends up having extraordinary circumstances and variables thrown into it. In my case, it was a couple of ancient artifacts and a powerful undead spellcaster. The whole ordeal started when my teacher, a man named Tolfdir, offered the class a chance to research the excavated ruins of an old civilization. During that time, I got caught in a magical trap, met a member of the Psijic Order – the same order of men you saw in the portal – defeated the resurrected corpse of a criminal, and found a magical artifact. It was the blue orb that you saw, the Eye of Magnus.

There was an advisor to the archmage of the college who sought to harness the power of the Eye and killed a couple of good people in the process. It was then that I saw that the Eye was too powerful for its own good. To help rectify my mistake of finding it, I sought out the only thing that could contain the Eye, the Staff of Magnus. In order to do so, I had to commune with an ancient entity living beneath the college and venture to an ancient maze. At the end of the maze was a powerful undead spellcaster, who had control over the staff. I defeated him and retrieved the staff, which was then used to contain the Eye back at the college.

After defeating, and unfortunately killing, the advisor, I was met another member of the PsijicOrder, who brought his comrades. I gave the staff to their leader for safekeeping, and they took the eye back to their home. Something probably went wrong during the transfer, as they lived in a very isolated, faraway land, that caused them to blink in your world for a short period of time."

"That is quite the tale. So now we come to the true issue: the staff. It's obviously very dangerous and we need to figure out what to do with it."

"I propose keeping the staff. I can guard it constantly and ensure it never falls into the wrong hands. I would never consider using it, considering all the terrible things that I've seen done using its power."

"I'm not sure about that. It can be stolen when you are asleep. That's too risky. I say that we put it back in the Academy's once it is repaired."

"No. Your vault was broken into once, and it can happen again. We need a place where no one of this land can reach, and I think I have an idea."

"Oh? Interesting. A place where none can reach?"

"Yes. A place completely foreign to the very idea of your world, a place with only one tie to your world: the Soul Cairn."

"And what is this tie?"

"Me. I'm sure you've heard rumors of me summoning a dragon, correct? Well, let me assure that those rumors are completely true. The dragon's name is Durnehviir, and he is an undead dragon, whose soul is bound to the Soul Cairn. I am only able to summon him because of my draconic lineage and mastery over the thu'um. Before you say that others can learn the thu'um in time, I will assure you that I have already thought of that. One can only summon Durnehviir if they know the correct way to summon him, a method known only toby two, Durnehviir, and myself. Furthermore, Durnehvirr will not grant others access to his consent, in the off chance that someone else was able to learn the shout."

"My, you seem to have this very well thought out."

"But of course, Headmaster Osmond. It is in my nature to be ever careful."

"Very well. I accept your offer. I'll arrange for this to be done at a time in which no others can learn of our actions. Most likely, this will be done tonight, either during or after the banquet."

"Banquet?"

"I forgot to tell you, didn't I? Well, there will be a banquet tonight, in celebration of the capture of the thief Fouquet, the return of the Staff, and the safety of the students. We will most likely be celebrating the hero of the whole affair as well," Osmond said, winking. Tseten grimaced slightly at this. He was never one for celebrating what he considered doing his duty.

"Um, that won't be necessary, Headmaster."

"Nonsense! It's absolutely necessary to award someone for his or her good deeds. Also, call me Old Osmond, or just Osmond."

"Very well. Before I forget, Osmond. I would like to discuss the fate of the mage that I apprehended."

Any joviality on Osmond's face disappeared at this.

"She is currently bound in the academy basement, locked up and under guard. Her ultimate fate is most likely execution."

"I would like to visit her. Technically, she should be under my jurisdiction as I was the one who defeated her."

Osmond hummed at this.

"Very well, I'll let you go see her. Follow me," Osmond said as he opened the door and walked down the corridors. Tseten quickly caught up to him.

"Thank you," Tseten said once he caught up.

The various corridors and hallways were more populated now, as the announcement that Fouquet was apprehended had most likely been heard by most of the student body. Students cordially greeted the pair as they passed, Osmond due to his standing in the school and Tseten due to whom he was with. They eventually reached the basement. The walls were made of stone. It was damp, and dark. The only source of light was the dim flickering of torches. The atmosphere was more of that of a dismal dungeon rather than that of a school.

"We don't often use the basement much, leading to its current state, since we don't often have the need to store anything beyond goods that thrive in this environment. It's not every day that a renowned thief infiltrates the school," Osmond said, addressing the current state of the basement. They walked further down the winding corridors until they reached a door with two mages standing guard on either side.

"She should be right behind this door."

"Thank you, Osmond. I would like to talk to her alone."

"I can't allow that! Who knows what could happen?"

"Oh? Are you saying that you don't trust me? I assure you, I will make sure that nothing happens to her. I'll also make sure that she does not escape. You have my word."

Tseten's words once again made perfect sense to the old headmaster. Did his amulet look different? This thought was quickly cleared from the headmaster's mind.

"I'll place my trust in your word then," Osmond said, startling the guards. "Guards, with me, we shall return within the hour."

The old man and the guards walked down the hallway and waited around the corner, to give the monk some privacy. Tseten grimaced at this. He hated using the Amulet of Articulation, especially with what he had to do to gain it. He quickly put it away, replacing it by his Amulet of Vættr.

He entered the room to see the thief chained to a chair. She was staring blankly at the ground. She jerked up at the sound of the door closing. When she saw who it was, she scowled.

"What do you want?" she snarled.

"Easy now. There is no need for hostility, I merely wish to talk."

The thief's scowl lessened, but a frown remained.

"Well?"

"I wish to talk. You have the makings of someone of high blood, someone who was not born for the role of the thief, but adapted nonetheless."

"And how would you know that?"

"To answer quite simply, I am someone who was born with no parents, who grew up in the streets of a city with the - well deserved - moniker City of Thieves, who foolishly got involved with the biggest organization in the hold, if not the whole province, who somehow became the leader of the this organization. Would you like to know the name of this organization?" Tseten asked, hints of remorse and pride evident in his life.

"What is it?"

"It is known as the Thieves' Guild, a coalition of the greatest nonviolent thieves in Skyrim, the land from which I hail. Though many positive changes have been made in the guild, the underlying tone of larceny remains."

"Get on with it. How does any of this relate to me?"

"My apologies, I get caught up in my memories when describing that group sometimes. This relates to you because I think you had a good reason for why you stole the staff, for why you became a thief, and for why you never actually killed anyone, Fouquet."

Fouquet was taken aback by this. People were supposed to hate thieves, right? Who was this man, who dared to say he understood her?

"Let me explain something to you, _monk_. You have no idea where I come from. Do you know what it's like? To have to give up all of your values for others, just to see them smile? To have a whole group of people depending on you? To have your family fall from grace?"

"On the contrary, I believe we are similar in more ways than you think. Though I've never had the burden of living in high graces, I did have a whole province of thousands depending on myself and my actions. I even had a whole planet's existence depending on the outcome of one of my battles before. I've had to kill my heart multiple times to do something for the sake of others. I've had to break my highest taboo of not killing sentient beings for the sake of a college, a group of thieves out of luck, and a whole variety of people and groups. So yes, I have at least some idea where you come from. Maybe you can complete this idea for me?" Tseten said, the look in his eyes slightly broken, much like the look that often plagued Fouquet. Neither party missed this similarity.

Fouquet sighed.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning. I was born the daughter of an Albionian viceroy. He served under the Archduke of Albion, who had a little girl that I doted after. Life was good. Then, the Reconquista struck. They killed my father and the Archduke, seizing our assets. I was lucky enough to survive. I eventually found the illegitimate daughter of the Archduke, Tiffania, who had been living in an orphanage, taking care of the children. I brought them money and other necessities, using my magic to steal from people affiliated with the Reconquista but eventually, that got too hard. The Reconquista gained too much power. They hunted me down and gave me an ultimatum: join or die. I chose to join for Tiffania's and the children's sakes.

"They made me do all kinds of terrible things, mostly stealing from good, honest people. I always kept a cut of my earnings, which I sent to Tiffania. The girl, as innocent as she is, thinks that I found a legitimate job. Anyways, my latest job was to steal the Staff of Destruction, and deliver it to the leader of the Reconquista, Cromwell. And that's how I ended up where I am. Believe me or don't. I don't care."

Tseten's eyes softened as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I believe you. If you don't mind me asking, what were you called before you became Fouquet, or Longueville, or any other name you conjured up over the years."

There was a long pause. The captured thief was weighing her options, trying to judge how much she should tell this stranger, who knew more about her than any other living being.

"My birth name is Matilda de Saschen-Gotha, though I suppose I'm just Matilda now," she said with a half-chuckle. Tseten steeled his gaze and took a deep breath.

"Well then, Matilda, I suppose I should be telling you this, but your fate at the hands of the Tristanian government will most likely be death by public execution."

"Is that why you came here? To remind me of my impending death? What was the point of all of the life talks? Did you _want_ to give me some sense of hope, 'closure,' or some other good feeling?" the woman said as she jumped from her chair, straining her chains.

"No. I came for a chance to get to know you from the person most qualified to talk about you. I came here to decide your fate, since I was the one to detain you. Now that I know what I know, I came to offer you a chance at a free life."

"And how would you do that?"

"That's easy: by killing Fouquet," Tseten smiled at her.

She scowled at him for a couple seconds, then she smirked back, having understood his meaning.

**AN: I was ohhh so tempted to end it here but alas.**

It was at this moment that Osmond and the guards decided to return. Fouquet quickly adopted the blank expression she had worn previously.

"Hello there," Tseten said, conversationally.

"Did you get what you came for, Tseten?" Osmond asked.

"I believe so, yes. Osmond, may I declare the fate I have decided for Fouquet the thief?"

"Go right ahead."

"Fouquet the thief is to die."

Osmond was about to say something, but was stopped by Tseten.

"However, Matilda here, is going to live, under my protection."

"What? This is madness! She's a thief! She stole a magical treasure! She nearly killed many people," one of the guards yelled in glaring disapproval.

"Silence," Osmond said, calmly. "Tseten, how do propose you do that? I've got two guards here, along with myself, and the rest of the staff to stop her from escaping until she is sent to the capital. Do you expect to fight through all of that?"

"No. I expect to use my words. You see, this woman did not voluntarily go into her current lifestyle. She was forced into it, and eventually given an ultimatum of death should she try to quit. I believe she deserves a chance without all of these factors holding her down, and I intend to give it to her."

"What of the capital? Do you expect me to just tell them 'The man who captured the thief decided that she live, so I let her get away. Sorry, but the thief that's been stealing money and magical artifacts is going to go free.'?"

"No. I have an idea. I assume that only you, these two, and Colbert know of Fouquet's trait."

"Well, yes. What about the capital though?"

"What have you told the capital?"

"I've sent a message saying that Fouquet had been stopped and would no longer plague this kingdom or any other."

"If they ask, tell them that I can summon a dragon. Dragons eat people. I summoned a dragon during my fight against Fouquet. Fouquet perished in the stomach of the dragon," Tseten smiled.

Osmond smiled back.

"What about her appearance. I stated that Fouquet was Longueville, and Longueville is registered in the kingdom records. The officials know what she looks like."

"My answer to that is magic, a very obscure magic that I learned from a woman in a tavern of my hometown. She called herself the 'Face Sculptor'."

"That sounds dangerous…" Osmond said worriedly.

"It's perfectly safe. I assure you."

"Oh, very well. You two," Osmond said facing the guards. "Please leave, and tell no one what you learned today. Our lives depend on it. We'll be going now, Tseten."

"Thank you all for your help today," Tseten sincerely said.

The room was now empty, save for Tseten and the thief.

"So, do you agree with this arrangementare you ok with this?" he asked, as he approached her, ready to free her from her bindings. She smiled back at him.

"Of course I am. Please, do what you must."

"Very well then, I'll set everything up. You will be deciding your new appearance, of course, so we'll have to get a reflective surface."

"I don't think there are any mirrors down here."

"No worries. I have a solution to that. In my world's magic, under the alteration tree of magic, there is a spell called Transmute. It gives the caster the ability to alter certain properties of minerals. Sadly, not many others studied it further after they figured out how to make iron into true gold. I, on the other hand, saw it for uses beyond sating the greed of the common man. I realized that it was able to actually rewrite the internal properties of every speck of the minerals in a given area. Like so."

The monk's hands glowed with countless green cubes, which flowed over to the wall to her right. A glossy oval shape seemed to forml in the wall. The area took on the same properties as a mirror, allowing her to clearly see an outline of herself in the dim light.

"Now, we need to add more light," he continued.

The glow around his hand changed to a pure white color, with what looked like a rainbow circling around it. A ball of light shot from his hand to the ceiling above them, instantly lighting up the room enough for both occupants to clearly see.

"Amazing," the thief whispered.

"Thank you. Now, we get rid of your bindings," Tseten held up a set of picks. "The things you learn growing up in the City of Thieves."

Fouquet smiled at this. The monk knelt down and unlocked the bindings on her arms and legs. She stood up and stretched her sore limbs.

"Now, face the mirror and tell me what you would like in a new face," the Breton said as he pulled a book from the folds of his robes, "There's a chant to start off the flesh sculpting. _Just tell me what you desire – beauty or hideous deformity, nothing is beyond my skill._"

"I think that we should keep the basic shape of my head the same, changing things too much will make people suspicious if someone were to show up out of no where with foreign features. Make my hair a couple shades darker, more like a hunter green. I want to keep some semblance of my parents verdant hair after all. Make my eyes slimmer, and change the color to a darker yellow-brown. Bright eyes attract the gazes of others. My lips should have a bit less of an upward tilt too. Fouquet was known to always be smiling. You should change my height too, just to be safe. And that should be good."

Matilda watched in awe as her face and body shifted to her orders, as Tseten flip through his book. She smiled, a bit awkwardly at her new appearance.

"We should change your clothes too. Those robes are still a dead giveaway, that and they don't really fit you anymore. I have some spare robes from the college that I attended. They should fit. Just change into them now and I'll dispose of your other clothing. I'll step out for you to change."

The monk left a set of blue and tan robes for her to change into before stepping out. Five minutes later, Matilda walked out, wearing her new robes with her old ones draped over her arm. She handed them to him and smiled.

"Why hello there. My name is Tseten, meaning stable life."

"Nice to meet you, Tseten. My name is Matilda; I'm kinda new around here."

* * *

**AN: And that's a wrap. I'm pretty ok with how this chapter turned out. This is the third draft, not counting what changes my beta makes. I've been interested in the character Fouquet/Matilda, and since the manga doesn't really go beyond where she's from or which side she's on, I decided to give her, her own ambitions and personality beyond the cocky bad guy vibe she originally had. Also, Tseten hasn't always been a monk. You have to start from the bottom to rise to new heights after all. The changes he made to the Thieves' Guild were mostly altruistic and moral changes that makes them do more 'good' for the people of Skyrim. The questlines that Tseten completed are as follows: Thieves' Guild, College of Winterhold, Main Story, Dawnguard: Dawnguard Faction, Dragonborn DLC, all Raven Rock quests, and all Tel Mithryn quests. He also ended the Civil War, but as a neutral party.**

* * *

**BN(Beta Note): I would like to thank Lothahnos for giving me the opportunity to become a beta ( something I always wanted to try out ) and I hope I did a good enough job. Till next time.**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: So... it's been like a year and two days since I updated this story. In my feeble defense, I would like to say that I've been bogged down with university and jobs. Other than that, I'm really happy to see so many people follow and favorite this story, which started out, and still is, just a personal project that I started on a whim. To address the anonymous review, the reason why nobles wrote off Tseten as a lowly commoner despite the fact that he was summoned as he killed a dragon was because he introduced himself as such - nothing more than a "lowly monk." Furthermore, he was summoned by Louise, a mage who, in the eyes of all her peers as well as herself, was a failure in every magical sense. They would have to write off and belittle her familiar in every way to justify his existence.**

* * *

Louise woke up to an empty room. Blearily, she rubbed any unwanted grogginess from her unexpected loss of consciousness from her eyes. She let out a sigh when she saw the set of robes laid out on her dresser. Her familiar, who may as well have been the second coming of the Founder – if her memory serves her correctly – was nowhere to be found. Listlessly, the newly discovered void mage pulled herself out of her heavy sheets and changed into the clothes that Tseten had set out for her. Silently, the noble reluctantly regretted tuning out a majority of the monk's dressing lessons as she struggled to cloth herself.

After she had adequately dressed herself, Louise trudged out of her room, only to be met with countless faces filled with admiration. It was both a familiar, yet unfamiliar sight to behold. Being the daughter of Karin of the Heavy Wind, the third Valliere daughter was used to seeing seas of admiration. Being the "Zero" Louise, she was utterly flabbergasted to find each pair of adoring eyes looking in her direction. And so, she did what any other flustered teenage girl would do; she quickly turned and shut the door behind her.

Louise lightly tapped her hands against her flushed cheeks, thinking the familiar mantra of "rule of steel," as she got back onto her feet. She took a deep breath before exiting the safety of her room back into the sea of tormentors-turned-fanatics. The muffled cheers immediately exploded when she reopened the door. The young mage-in-training proudly walked out in a visual facsimile of her mother, her chin turned up and her gait disciplined.

"Good job, Louise! You summoned a really powerful familiar after all!"

"Where's your familiar, Valliere? I was hoping to thank him personally!"

Louise almost deflated, when she realized her newfound fame was just because of her relation to the otherworldly monk. Almost. Before she could respond or say anything, a tanned hand grabbed one of her own and pulled her through the clamoring crowd and down several hallways. Once her rescuer released her, Louise looked up to see the grinning face of her rival: the Zerbst fire mage, Kirche. The pinkette immediately scowled.

"What do you want, Zerbst? Jealous that I'm finally getting the respect that I deserve?"

The buxom redhead let out an airy laugh.

"No, if anything, I'm a bit worried for you," she said with an expression that could only be described as genuine. "Now, I'm not being arrogant or anything, but as someone who is used to receiving such praise from others, I know how terrible it can get sometimes."

Louise opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off by her classmate.

"Please, just listen to me. I honestly believe that I've been changed since witnessing the aftermath of Tseten's fight. My perception of myself, of you, and even the world are… not what I thought at all. You're really amazing, you know that?"

The void mage tried to talk again, but was silenced by a dainty finger placed on her lips.

"I said please, Louise. As I was saying, you really are an amazing girl. I once thought that I was the strong one between us, but now I've realized that you were stronger the whole time, and I'm not talking in terms of magical prowess. Look at me; I'm a competent fire mage, wildly attractive, and am often lauded with praise and courtship offers. You, on the other hand, lack any prowess in the elemental arts and are usually showered in ridicule, sometimes from me. You see the difference between us? I grew complacent in my good fortunes and became a weak-minded bully. You… you kept on trying; you never gave up, no matter how many obstacles were thrown in your way. Even your wonderful familiar sees the difference in our values. He ignored all my advances, and despite being so powerful, he still cares for you and gives you his undivided attention when you ask for it."

Kirche paused, and this time, Louise had nothing to say in response.

"I kind of trailed off at the end, but I guess… I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm," the redhead swallowed audibly. "I'm sorry, Louise. Will you ever forgive me? Will you ever let someone as awful as me be your friend?"

The fire mage broke down at this point and collapsed onto Louise's smaller frame, tears spilling from her eyes as she engulfed the smaller girl in an awkward hug. Louise was not faring so well herself. She stared blankly for several seconds, holding back unshed tears as she tentatively wrapped her arms around her old rival.

"I guess we can give the whole friends thing a chance, but if you go back to your old bullying ways, we're done forever," Louise shakily said back.

She yelped as she was suddenly lifted off the ground and was spun around mid-air.

"That's so wonderful, Louise! Even now, your fortitude astounds me," Kirche laughed as she spun her new friend around in a bear hug before gently placing her onto the ground. "Now, I'm sure you haven't heard, but there's a Ball of Frigg tonight to celebrate Fouquet's defeat. Let's go back to my room! We can get washed up together, and I'm sure between Tabitha and me, one of us should have an old dress that you can fit into!"

"Dammit, Zerbst! I have my own clothes," Louise yelled as Kirche dragged her away. "And stop making fun of my height!"

Kirche merely laughed in response as she dragged Louise back to her room.

* * *

Tseten smiled lightly as he led the reformed Matilda throughout the halls. He silently thanked the divines for his good fortune for finding a relatively empty hallway. Explaining the new arrival before his and Osmond's planned time would be rather problematic.

"Where are we going again?" Matilda asked for what seemed like the 20th time.

"As had previously stated, I am taking you to the kitchen so that we can nourish ourselves," Tseten said, his light smile never fading from his face.

Matilda simply pouted in response as she sped up slightly to catch up to the monk's even pace. She nearly bumped into his back when the otherworlder suddenly stopped in front of a large oak door. He gently rapped his armored knuckles against the wood.

"Who is it?" a gruff voice resounded from the other side.

"Marteau, it's me, Tseten," the monk responded. "I've got one other person with me."

Shuffling came from the room beyond the door until the door was slowly opened, revealing a burly, bearded man garbed in the vestments of a chef. The man, now revealed to be Marteau, immediately engulfed Tseten in a bear hug, nearly lifting the dragonborn off the ground.

"Our Shield! Tseten! You have no idea how much of an honor it is for you to come visit us," the chef said as he ushered Tseten, and by association, a very confused Matilda into the kitchens. The kitchen workers, despite being a frantic bustle, paused and cheered as they saw the monk walk through. Tseten simply smiled a nodded in response.

"My apologies, Marteau, for the intrusion. I understand you all must be busy with preparations for the Ball tonight, but I would like to ask for your services again."

Marteau let out a loud booming laugh.  
"You didn't even hafta ask, Sir Tseten! If you hadn't come here on your own, I would've dragged ya here myself! Now you two sit down and let us whip up something nice for ya," the large man bellowed. "I bet you haven't eaten all day."

As if in response, Matilda's stomach let out a rumbling growl. The woman in question blushed and sat in her offered seat. Tseten sat down opposite to her and folded his now unarmored hands on the small wooden table.

"And don't even think about paying me this time, this is my way of saying thanks for your keeping the academy safe from that Fouquet fellow," Marteau continued.

Tseten simply nodded and smiled gently at the man as several plates of meat and vegetables quickly adorned the once-empty table.

"Now, dig in, Tseten and friend," the jolly man called out as he disappeared into the kitchen proper. The two quickly did as they were told, Matilda with more vigor than her Tamrielic savior. Once they were sated, Tseten and Matilda headed back towards the servant's chambers.

"What do we do now?" Matilda asked.

"There's going to be a ball tonight," the monk said absentmindedly, as he shirked off his orange robes and subsequently revealing his muscled torso to his companion, who quickly blushed and looked away. Thank Brimr for trousers. "I suggest we get ready for that, since we're both obligated to the Headmaster to make some sort of appearance."

The Breton was now garbed in a grey tunic with a red jacket with blue and white embroidery. His shoulders were adorned with a grey fur coat that made him look much more regal. Without his hood, Matilda was able to see his face properly for the first time, and objectively, he was a bit rugged looking, littered with scars, but handsome overall. A black beard covered his chin while his head was cleanly shaven. He looked much older than he acted and moved, which brought about her next question.

"Say, Tseten, how old are you exactly?"

The monk paused and rubbed his beard in contemplation.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure, but if I were to venture a guess, I'd say about 27 years old. And yourself?"

"I'm 23 years old," she quickly replied, blushing lightly. "Though, for future reference, you should know that it's rude to ask a lady her age."

He chuckled as he fitted his calloused hands into brown leather gloves that shimmered lightly as he touched them.

"My apologies, Matilda," he said as he tucked his standard robes into his knapsack.

"Where'd you get those clothes anyways? That outfit looks really nice, and expensive, even. Pretty fancy for a lowly monk, no?" she asked, teasingly.

"These are traditional party clothes from my homeland. They were gifted to me from a shopkeeper after I saved her store from being destroyed by a dragon."

Matilda was stunned, to say the least. The nonchalance of his statement put some new perspectives on the rumors that he had slain the dragon that had appeared during his summoning.

"They also gave me a set of woman's clothing, though I can't see why," he said as he pulled out another set of clothing – blue this time – from yet another compartment of his knapsack. "Though, I suppose everything worked out since I presume that you have no formal clothes for the ball?"

"Wait, you killed a dragon?" she exclaimed finally thrown out of her stupor.

"Well, I suppose I did, though my main focus at the time was to protect those shopkeepers. I've been fighting against dragons and other monsters for several years after all, but that aside, we should really get ready. I believe the ball is starting soon," he said as he handed her the regal looking dress. "I'll be waiting outside for you to change."

Matilda changed out her blue and tan robes for the dress and a familiar surge of power flowed through her as she adorned it. She paused to admire herself in a nearby mirror as she relished the feeling of opulence that she hadn't felt since her childhood. She was dressed in a blue, long-sleeved dress with burgundy and gold embroideries made of a very soft cloth. She held the cream furs that came with the dress up to her own scrutinizing gaze for a long moment before deciding against it, as fur wasn't really her style. It was thrown in the heap that her supplied blue and tan robes made up. Satisfied with the way she looked, she picked up her discarded clothing, exited the chambers, and met up with her new acquaintance.

She wordlessly handed the monk her old robes, which he stowed away in his bag, which Matilda was beginning to suspect to be some kind of magical infinite storage device.

"Judging by the emptiness of the hallways and time of day, I'd guess that the ball has already begun," Tseten stated. "Come, we should probably check up on Lady Valliere. She seemed unwell last I saw her."

Matilda simply shrugged and followed the Hero of Skyrim up the winding corridors and staircases.

* * *

Louise sighed again as she stood off to the side of ballroom as the other students participated in the festivities and celebrations.

"Still looking for your familiar, Louise?"

The petite girl jumped up at the unexpected voice. She looked to her right to see Kirche and Tabitha, both of whom were becoming fixtures of her life.

"I have no idea where he could be, honestly. Even though I've known him so little, I guess he's made a bigger impact on my life than I thought. It's barely been a day without him and I already miss his calming presence," Louise said, idly making a mental comparison between her familiar and her middle sister. "Pretty pathetic for a noble mage like myself, right? Depending on her familiar this much…"

"Hmm," Kirche hummed. "I can understand what you mean though. Anyways, who cares? Dependable people like him always show up eventually anyhow."

"Aptly said, Lady Zerbst," a familiar baritone said from Louise's left. The three jerked over to the voice, surprised to see a man that very closely resembled Louise's monk familiar.

"Fa-Tseten? Is that you? Where'd you get those clothes?" Louise exclaimed. "And where in Brimir's name did you come from?"

"To answer your questions in order: yes, I am Tseten; they were a gift, and I just got here."

"But where have you been all this time?" Louise demanded, almost childishly. "You were gone so long that I thought you had left me forever."

The pinkette's cheeks were flushed enough to match the color of her hair.

"I've been here and there. I went to go check up on you earlier, but you were nowhere to be found," the man replied evenly. "Though I apologize, but there is some private business that I must attend to with the headmaster later tonight."

He idly gestured to the great staff that Louise had just noticed was still securely strapped to his back. As though by fate, the aged headmaster made his presence known at the head of the hall.

"Would the familiar Tseten meet me in the Vestri Courtyard as soon as possible? I have private matters to discuss with him."

"If you would excuse me, Ladies Valierre, Zerbst, and Tabitha. I am very happy to see that you are all healthy."

With that parting statement, the monk left the ballroom, presumably towards the vestry courtyard. Louise internally debated on whether or not she should follow him.

_Rule of steel. A noble must always account for her servants._ Her mother's words echoed through her head as she abruptly ran off in the direction of her servant.

** "DUR NEH VIIR!"** a familiar voice called out from the courtyard. Louised picked up her pace and stopped when she finally reached the aforementioned courtyard in time to see Tseten – now dressed in his familiar orange robes, Headmsater Osmond, and a third, bound figure stand before a dragon. The monk said something as he _handed_ the staff of destruction to the dragon, which swallowed the ancient relic whole. He said something else to the dragon, gesturing to the bound figure, before the dragon abruptly bit the figure at the torso and proceeded to tear the prisoner apart with its terrifying, decayed maw. Louise broke into a sprint as she saw this act of wanton cruelty.

"Familiar! What's going on!?" she yelled as she approached the trio turned duo.

"Durnehviir, when I said to imprison the thief, I didn't mean to rend her soul into nothingness," Tseten yelled. Louise paused. That was the first time she had ever heard the man raise his voice. He turned around, his eyes widening when he noticed her.

"Lady Valliere, what are you doing here? How much did you see?" he asked, acting frantically out of character.

"I was here long enough to see you offer up a sacred relic to your dragon and to see it rip Fouquet into nothingness," she screamed, tears flowing down her eyes. Sure, Fouquet was a scoundrel and a thief, but even she didn't deserve to be killed so gruesomely and even cursed down to her soul. She watched as the monk stiffened as he kneeled down so that he was eye level with her and gently wrapped his arms around her. She pushed herself deeper into his warmth.

* * *

Tseten had a grim look on his face as he comforted his shivering master. Fortunately, the deception of Fouquet's death went as planned. Unfortunately, Durnehviir had been to enthusiastic in his destruction of the water-filled golem effigy of the thief.

"Krosis. It is a shame that someone so young and innocent would have to see the crueler aspects of the world. My apologies, Qahnariin," the dragon said.

"What's done is done, old friend," the monk said. "You are free to fly around as per our agreement. Please refrain from getting harmed or harming others."

Without another word, the great dragon took off and began to circle the school. He looked down at Louise, who was simply stood staring at the ground with unblinking eyes. He frowned deeply. The girl must have been greatly sheltered, to be shaken so deeply by a simple primal display. Granted, dragons of Durneviir's caliber must have been rather rare in her world, but there must have been other wildlife creatures, if all the other familiars were anything to consider.

"Louise."

No response.

"Louise," he repeated, firmer this time. Snapping the girl from her trance. She stared up at him, still slightly shaken. "I'm going have to ask you to stay strong. As harsh as it sounds, such savage displays are the norm for wildlife. If you truly wish to utilize your magic for combat, you have no choice but to accept that and move one. To thrive in this cruel world, we must have wills of steel and hearts of gold. This is in the potential of every single living being, which is why all life is precious."

The girl perked up at the mention of steel.

"Rule of steel," she mumbled to herself, as she began to walk back towards her room, albeit still stiffly. Once she was out of sight in the castle, there was a flash of light as the space next to Tseten, revealing a solemn-looking Matilda.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" she asked Tseten, as the headmaster had already left the courtyard to attend to official business.

"In that, I have no doubts. My summoner is one of the strongest people I have ever met. All she needed was a push in the right direction. The rest, she will have to overcome on her own," the monk replied grimly. "I fear, with the amount of responsibility that has been placed on her shoulders, she will have no choice but to adapt. Divines know I had to…"

He trailed off as he reentered the castle, Matilda quickly catching up.

* * *

The two found themselves in the armory, surrounded by ember and smoke. Matilda coughed as a wisp of smoke got in her face.

"You know, you don't need to follow me around everywhere I go, right? You are a free woman, as long as you don't resort to petty crime again," the monk said as he continued to pound away at metals.

"I don't know. I just… I don't where to go or what to do. I'm supposed to be out making money for Tiffania and the others at the orphanage, but now? As Matilda, I have no reputation, no background. In both the underworld and the nobles' world, it's incredibly difficult to make any money without credentials, and I don't want to go work as a maid for some fat, lazy noble," the woman replied.

There was a long pause, as she continued to watch Tseten pound at the metal with a ponderous look on his face. Suddenly he stopped, and reached around for his knapsack.

"How about I just give you all the money you need? I'm sure I have more than enough to spare," he said as he continued rooting around for something in his bag.

"I refuse," she said sternly "I don't want to receive any handouts. This orphanage is my responsibility, and I will work for it."

Tseten paused again.

"How about this, I'll hire you," he said, choosing to leave his opinion that her statement was a tad hypocritical silent. "You'll get pay to be my companion. Food and housing are included with pay."

Matilda stared for several seconds before dumbly nodding.

"I s-suppose I can accept that offer," she finally said, regaining some of her composure.

"Excellent. Now, hold on. I'm sure my gold and jewels are somewhere in here."

He rooted through his knapsack for several more moments before shouting could be heard from the bag. The verdette took an involuntary step back in surprise. The monk-smith reached deep into his bag and pulled out a rusty sword, which was also the source of the yelling.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get your attention?" the sword cried, its guard moving in a simulacrum of a mouth. "You save me from the dusty corner of that store just to resign me to the corner of your freakish backpack? How is that fair?"

The monk looked legitimately sorry at the sword.

"I'm sorry friend. In all of the commotion of the past couple days, I had complete forgotten about you," he replied. "That fault lies entirely with me."

The sword merely grunted in response. Tseten hung the metal that he had previously been working on – a half-finished breastplate – up and picked up the sword.

"For recompense, I will give you maintenance. I know my steel, and I know any weapon doesn't enjoy being coated in rust," he said, frowning at the neglected edge of the sword.

"Well," the sword began. "Show me what you can do, and maybe I'll consider forgiving your transgressions."

Tseten laughed at this, with Matilda awkwardly laughing behind him. If this blade had a chin, it'd be upturned to a ridiculous angle. Tseten unwrapped the handle of the blade, eliciting a yelp from the sword, and gripped the blade using a pair of metal tongs. He continued to dip the blade into steel, getting the sword to moan in ecstasy. Once the blade was properly coated in oil, the monk began to scrub down the length of the blade with a roughly knit cloth, shedding off flakes of oxidation and revealing the gleaming steel beneath. The blade, still dripping with oil, was still chipped and warped in some places. Tseten frowned again.

"My friend–"

"Call me Derfflinger, or Derf," the sword interjected.

"Derfflinger," the monk continued. "Despite my efforts with your rust, it would seem that your blade is still severely neglected."

"Ugh, don't remind me," the magical weapon interrupted again.

"Sorry," Tseten quickly apologized. "But do you mind if I give you some basic treatment and hone your edge?"

The sword seemed to perk up.

"Huh? Go ahead, smith. Boy, was I lucky to have a skilled human blacksmith find me of all people," the sword exclaimed. The man and his blade turned when he heard metal shifting from behind them and saw that Matilda had made herself comfortable against the far side of the wall.

"Do you mind if I–" the Dragonborn began, before getting cut off again.

"Go ahead, just don't forget about little old me again."

The man shook his head playfully as he pulled some furs from his bag. After making the short walk to his new companion, he made a makeshift bed and blanket out of the fur, and tucked her in. Nodding at one job done, he walked back over to the sword and picked it back up, giving its blade several more scrubs before grabbing it again with the tongs.

Carefully, he inserted the blade of the sword into a nearby furnace stopping before the hilt. The sword groaned again. The smith stood again and watched as the intense flames heated the sword to extraordinary temperatures. Once Derfflinger was heated sufficiently, Tseten pulled him out and began carefully apply a layer of clay to the sword using a brush, but leaving the edge uncovered.

"What are you doing, smith?" the sword asked in a somehow muffled tone.

"This is a rather new technique from where I come from. It insulates your spine, while leaving your edge to become harder. Effectively, it makes you cut much easier while giving you a stronger backbone to support your strikes.

"Well, alright then," the magical artifact responded as the monk dipped his coated blade into the oil, causing fire to burst from the surface. He pulled out the blade and chipped off the hardened clay, revealing a much, much cleaner sword that displayed a prominent gradation from the edge to the spine.

"Ahhhhh," the sword sighed. "I feel at least a thousand years younger."

"Sorry, but I'm nowhere near done yet," the monk stated, as he picked up the sword, which had now cooled down enough to handle, over to the grindstone. The weapon began to tremble.

"Now, now, smith, let's not doing anything too hasty," it stuttered.

"This is for your own good. You'll thank me once I'm done."

Without another word, the monk began to pedal, and brought the edge of the blade down to the rapidly spinning stone. Sparks flew as he honed the edge of the blade and buffed out any scratches. He then stepped back and inspected the sword, which looked like it was freshly forged.

"Oh dear gods," the sword exclaimed. "I feel better than I have for millennia. I never even knew I could bend like this. You, sir, are without a doubt, the greatest smith to ever handle me. I never really ask you meatbags this, but might you tell me your name?"

"My name is Tseten, meaning stable life," the man replied with a smile. "I hope you would forgive me for forgetting about you now."

"Oh, you're more forgiven. In fact, you are officially appointed as my personal smith," the sword magnanimously declared. Tseten simply laughed in response. Derfflinger joined in on the laughter. A feminine groan sounded from the opposite side of the room.

"When did I fall asleep?" Matilda asked as she approached the two, rubbing the bleariness from her eyes.

"I believe it was around the time I was polishing Derfflinger here," he said, brandishing the newly treated sword, who gave off menacing, yet comedic, barbaric bellows that reverberated through the small forge. Matilda's eyes widened when she saw the product of the rusted sword's transformation.

"What are you? How'd you get so much so much done so fast?"

"Fast? While admit, my work is more impressive than that of other smiths," the monk said, without any hint of arrogance, almost as though he were just stating a fact of life. "It's been at least 20 hours, based on the movement of the stars outside."

The reformed thief gasped again.

"You mean to tell me that you spent nearly a day working on one sword, and some dinky old talking one at that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the sword in question snapped. "You better be glad that you're friends with Tseten here or I'll rip your guts out!"

"Oh yeah? And how will you do that?" she retorted, getting closer to the sword. "You're just a sword, you can't even move on your own."

"Yeah, well shut up. Tseten here's got my back. Right?"

"I don't believe I would ever use one friend to maim another. And you guys shouldn't antagonize each other. I know it's beneath both of you to do so," the middleman calmly stated, making Matilda flush and Derf clatter abashedly. "Now, I'll have to get your payment" – he gestured to Matilda – " and make a proper sheath for you" – he pointed to Derfflinger while looking at the clumsy leather wrap that had come with the sword.

He proceeded to rifle through his bag and procured a moderately sized bag that clinked as he placed it on the ground and several pieces of tanned leather. Both of the other occupants watched in awe as the Tamriel native pulled an impossible amount of materials from his backpack. The man paid no mind as he handed the bag to Matilda.

"Here's the standard amount I give to any who offer to accompany me in my adventures. 500 gold pieces."

The earth mage numbly accepted the bag before fully processing what the monk had said.

"500 gold pieces?! You do realize that in Halkegenia, that much money can buy you a large house. And this is just a down payment? Just how rich are you?"

Tseten smiled abashedly at her last question.

"That was the plan, after all. As to answer your last question, I'd rather not say, as most of the money was just forced upon me for merely doing what I thought was right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a sheath to make. Feel free to watch if you want."

Silence once again overtook the forge as Matilda contentedly watched Tseten deftly cut some of the leather into strips and wrapped the larger piece around the blade. Even the loud suggestions from the sword as the man worked couldn't ruin her good mood. She could get used to life like this.

* * *

**I'm already well into the next chapter, despite the major changes I made to the overall plot of the story, so expect an update in hopefully less than a year this time. Thanks for reading!**


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